round 2 - fighting back

As I stepped back into the ring for Round 2 I knew I needed a different strategy. I decided to ask if they would slow the infusion down to two and a half hours, they agreed. I was determined to not be knocked out this time either, I didn't want to be a living zombie again. As I sat in the chair I noticed something refreshing.

What? Were you expecting a picture of Rocky holding the title belt? Remember this is a 12 Round Fight and Rocky usually spends 10 of them taking a beating lol. (His fights may have been 15) Anyway the refreshing thing I noticed was in the treatment pod behind me I heard a man talking about getting ready to speak at church. As I listened it was apparent this man loved Jesus too.

As the nurse prepared me for the nausea medicine and steroids I simply asked Jesus to help me. Without issue as they had during treatment one these medicines didn't cause any issues. Then she started the first chemo drug at the slower rate of infusion. I noticed I was getting a little woozy so I got up and went to the restroom. I realized walking around helped me to feel a little better.

As the treatment progressed I really didn't feel too bad, but then my roommate said, "OMG, Randy look at your hand." I looked, and my veins were really exposed, nice and big. So I said, "Oh wow, they could really draw blood from my veins right now," He said, "No, you're whiter than white." I guess the nurse heard him because she came over to ask if I was alright. I said, "I was until now, you guys are making me feel like I should be sick." Then all of a sudden I felt sick.

She checked my blood pressure and it was too high, so she stopped the treatment. I was disappointed because two treatments in and both had been stopped for various reasons. I was not letting them knock me out. She agreed and told me to relax and once my blood pressure dropped she would restart the treatment. Remembering walking around helped I decided to go to the restroom again. 

On the way back to my chair, I felt led to go ask the man I heard earlier to pray for me. As I made my way back the nurse thought I forgot where I was sitting and waved for me to come back. I waved her off and said, "I will be right back." I walked over to the next row of pods, spotted the man as he was sitting with his wife who was being treated herself. I was raised to see people for who they are, not the color of their skin. However, giving the nature of what we are seeing today in our country, I want to say he was a black man. I do this only to show that there are amazing people of all races in our country.

As I got closer he looked up at me and I said, "It sounds like you love Jesus." He simply replied, "Yes, sir I do." Then I asked him if he would pray for me. He didn't hesitate to stand up, put his hand on my shoulder and started to pray. Now the amazing part was that everyone around us including nurses paused while this man prayed. It was an amazing moment and prayer. His name is Perry, I call him Mr. Perry as he was probably in his late 60's or early 70's. His wife's name is Ms. Beverly and she is almost done with her treatments and looks amazing. We talked for a bit and then I went back to my chair.

The nurse came over and something amazing had happened. My blood pressure had dropped, so she restarted my treatment and over the next two hours no more issues. Thank you Jesus and Mr. Perry. They hooked up my home treatment and we were on our way. I felt so good we went to eat Tacos. Then Wednesday I went back to get disconnected. I went to church, I was feeling a lot better than after the first one. Before bed I took nausea medicine and stomach medicine. Slept through the night. 

The cold sensitivity had kicked in, but it wasn't too bad. I even went in to the office for a bit on Friday, but could tell I was really tired and wouldn't be staying long. By the weekend I was getting better and by Monday I was back completely.

I begin to think about how if only I could get through a Monday treatment with no issues this wouldn't be too bad. One of my cousins killed my dream lol, as she said it would get worse before it gets better. Would it really? Could she be right? She would know, she is walking miracle and cancer survivor. All I knew was Round 3 was coming and I needed a new plan to win.