Hey Everybody!  

First of all, sorry for the delay in getting this update posted!  I wrote the bulk of it on Thursday of last week and then forgot to go back and make edits on Friday as I had planned.  

Week one of cycle two was slightly better than the first time around.  The nausea was much better but the rest of the side effects were about the same.  We were very strict about taking both of the anti-nausea medications on time. This helped a lot, until Friday.  On Friday the restless legs started up again. This is a tough thing to describe, but I’ll give it a shot. My legs had to be continuously moving. It didn’t matter if I was sitting, standing, or laying down, they needed to be in motion. I was able to stop them, but if I did, it kind of felt like a rubber band that was being stretched and stretched.  I could feel the energy building in them until they started moving again. It made it very difficult to sleep, let alone relax, during the five hours of treatment on Friday. Luckily, the good, kind doctor was able to identify my bouncy legs as a reaction to anti-nausea medication number two. He gave me some Benadryl and told me to stop taking that drug, and I was cured! Other than that, it was a similar experience to the big week during cycle one. Here is how I would rate the side-effects for those of you keeping track: 

• Nausea - Low to Medium
• Fatigue - High
• Ringing in the ears - Medium
• Dehydration - High
• Zombie Brain - Medium
• Shortness of Breath - Medium
• Restless Legs - #Cured
• Mouth Sores - Medium

While many of the side effects decreased slightly in intensity, it felt like they hung around longer this time. Ashley kept reassuring me that it seemed like I was recovering at about the same pace as last time around, but I think I may have tried pushing myself harder this time.  That made it a bit more frustrating for me, especially over the last few days. 

Last week (week two of cycle two) followed a very similar timeline as last time around.  I didn’t feel great until Thursday morning. Thursday morning is when everything other than dehydration and a few minor remnants magically disappears. I’ll have another post that talks about all of the good stuff that we were able to pack into this weekend. I think it's just as important to post about those things as it is to post about all of the awful stuff that comes along with the big weeks of treatment.