Dream Weaver

Remember this song from REO Speedwagon?  "Oh-o, Dream Weaver...I believe you can get me through the night.  Oh-o, Dream Weaver...I believe we can reach the morning light."  Well, today I felt like I was riding the Dream Weaver's Train upon a soft, drifting cloud.

Or, again, it could just be the Benedryl.

It was chemo day today.  I haven't written in a few days since I had that horrible cold that just wouldn't give up.  I finally ended up having to call the chemo center to get a prescription to help since I was up all night one night coughing so hard that I pulled a muscle!  So, wasn't feeling like writing at the time.  But now, after 5 days of the antibiotics, feeling much better and coughing much less.  Maybe having so much medication in my system and being so tired made the effects of the Benedryl just all the more dramatic...but boy, did it hit me today!

There are not always the same people in the chemo room with you because everyone has their own schedule and it is not always like me--the same day every week.  But you do get to see quite a few familiar faces each time you go.  Today, there were three of us on the same medication and we all were comparing side effects and our own reaction to the benedryl.  It seems we all have the drippy nose I talked about last time and eyes that tear constantly.  I don't yet have any signs of neuropathy in my hands or feet, but the other two do (and I will just need to wait to see what will happen to me).  We all also lost most hair all over our bodies (hey, I even lost my nose hair!!), get occasionally chills (yes, that's from the Herceptin), diarrhea (...it happens to the best of us!), still have some taste differences on foods that make some food difficult to eat; and other symptoms.

And we all love that Benedryl!  Not only does it make the treatment go faster since you sleep through it all, but it is like being in a dream.  One of the other patients said it felt like being drunk...but without the hangover.  I prefer to think of it as a dream since everything moves slowly, and all the stress you have had just fizzles up into the air.  Your body becomes so heavy it is hard to move, and your eyes are forced to close (before you go cross-eyed!), and you hear words like they are floating above you...on the "Dream Weaver's cloud".  

Once home, again I had to "sleep it off" for a few hours, and now I am up and getting back to things that need doing....like this blog.  (It was nice to hear from some of you that you were concerned that I hadn't written in a few days...thank you!).  This was Taxol number 4, only 8 more to go!  And hey, God is my "Dream Weaver" and he's good company through this (see below).

Dream weaver
I've just closed my eyes again
Climbed aboard the dream weaver train
Driver take away my worries of today
And leave tomorrow behind
Ooh dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Ooh dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light

Fly me high through the starry skies
Maybe to an astral plane
Cross the highways of fantasy
Help me to forget today's pain

Ooh dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Ooh dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light

Though the dawn may be coming soon
There still may be some time
Fly me away to the bright side of the moon
And meet me on the other side

Ooh dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Ooh dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light

Dream weaver
Dream weaver
Dream weaver