My evil twin

Fourth treatment of chemo done! Now to 'enjoy' my side effects for a week or so, recover a few days, and I'm done with my second cycle! Another milestone! (notice the sweet side shave?) It really is all routine by now: Dane drops me off at the oncology day clinic, I happily greet all the nurses and other patients (always gezellig! ), find an open chair and get myself comfortable. The nurses hook the IV up to my PICC line and then over the course of three hours or so, all of the drugs are administered. To pass the time, I mostly look at my phone and text my mother (who always wakes up before the crack of dawn in Philly to keep me company!) and Dane. I try to stomach some lunch from the hospital - it's tasty but my body now associates it with chemo - and I chat with the nurses to practice my Dutch every time they're attending to my frantically beeping infusion pump. I get my PICC line cleaned and redressed at some point during the chemo and once we're all ...

Five weeks into chemotherapy and I think I'm getting the hang of things. All the mystery and fears of cancer treatment have given way to experience and even some confidence. But I'm also staying humble and taking things one day at a time. Chemo shows little mercy. While I'm getting used to the side effects, any moment something new can just pop up. One moment I can be focused and feeling good and the next I can hardly keep my eyes open. Keeps me on my toes and listening to my body! Each treatment has been better than the last. Familiarity goes a long way for that. But so does more drugs. The ' langer afbouwen ' of my anti-nausea medicine (extension from a four- to six-day scheme) has done wonders to avoid a cold turkey dip day. My only other serious complaint that has persisted and worsened each cycle has been a relentless headache that Tylenol wouldn't touch. I brought it up to my hematologist before my third treatment last week. After asking a few questions ...