The Agwuocha Family: Ready for Round 2!

So much has happened in the last few weeks. I left off on my last post with the ailments of Chemo with not much promise of an end in sight. Two weeks ago I was scheduled, as part of the Glimmer of Hope program, to receive accupuncture. I was so skeptical about it but was willing to give it a try. First off, let me tell you, it does not hurt! It is such a strange thing though to quickly open my eyes to see needles stuck in my skin all over my body. I was like wow! This is so strange. Strange enough though, it worked!!! It took away my nausea. I walked in feeling sick and left feeling great! I am a huge fan of accupuncture now! I will benefit from 10 complimentary sessions of which would be worth every penny if I had to pay for it!

Nnenna got to come with me to one of my sessions!
We realized after taking our selfie that
we were matching!

A few days after my accupuncture I had the priveledge of traveling with my mom and sister in law to Virginia Beach to spend a much needed weekend with my sister and her awesome friend who hosted us so well. It was my first experience being out in the sun. Being on chemotherapy I have to be very careful to protect my skin in the sun. I chose the Kiss My Face brand which my skin tolerated pretty well. I have to say, I survived the weekend with no problems with getting burnt! One funny sidenote of the trip was that one of the drugs, Perjeta, causes you to need to "jet" to the bathroom with no warning! Well we were in the car driving home after a great day at the beach followed by a wonderful seafood dinner and all of the sudden I had that Uh Oh kind of feeling! Everyone was talking in the car enjoying their time when I knew I had to speak loud and quickly get their attention. All of a sudden I shouted, lol, "How soon until we are home?!" Michelle was like oh we'll be home soon. My sister in law looked right at me and was like oh no, PULL OVER!! Lo and behold, the interstate will never be the same ha! No shame, it was emergent! Thankfully it was dark though ha! All in all we had a very wonderful and MEMORABLE trip!

One small snag in the wide tooth comb and
this is what happened. Ugh!

It is avisable to use a silk pillowcase
while going through treatment as it
is easier on your hair. I daily glance
down to see if I've left my hair behind.

Shortly after returning home, I noticed that my hair began to slowly shed. This has kind of consumed me this week. I have had some of the weird tingling sensations on my scalp and felt sure that my hair was going to fall out in huge piles in places I would really like it to not happen, such as back to school night where the non-air conditioned building has monster fans that basically blow you away when you walk past them. I had to touch my head just to make sure the hair was still there. I know that I am doing cold capping and that you do shed some hair but one never knows just how much will shed and if we did it correctly. I still feel like it may just all come off, but as of day 21, I retain most of my hair, even though I feel it to be pretty fragile. Little Toben had a tug on my hair the other day and he managed to get a nice bit out so ya that's a little unsettling.

Day 21 and I still have a lot of hair!

Tomorrow I gear up for round 2 of treatment. I spent most of today running around getting blood work, grocery shopping, gathering my dry ice for the cold caps and doing some laundry. I'm feeling really pretty great these last few days, but I know by the weekend I will probably be dealing with all the not so fun side effects.

Olanna got to come with
mommy today for my blood work!

I seem to be getting cards in the mail almost daily and I can't tell you how much that warms my heart! Thank you so much for thinking of me and encouraging me! I love you! Please keep the cards coming! They really do help! My address again is 3979 Brandon Rd Pgh PA 15212.

What you can do? Tomorrow I will be starting chemo #2 and will only have one helper, as my mom just had surgery and will be out of commission for a little while. If you are in the Wexford area and want to stop by the Cancer Center at the Wexford Health and Wellness Pavilion and bring me and my helper a smoothie or frap we would be grateful for that. It is hard for me to eat while capping and cold icy drinks are good for my mouth and side effect. We will be there from 8am-2pm (maybe longer). The address is 12311 Perry Hwy, Wexford, PA 15090. Follow the signs to the Cancer Center.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Lots of Love,

Amanda

Below are some other pics that sum up the regular life stuff going on in the Agwuocha home!!