I have to apologize to my followers that I haven't posted the whole month of August. It's been crazy!! So after my second AC treatment, I was laying on the couch and it felt like my heart was in my neck and beating out of it. I called my oncologist and the nurse had me take my resting heart rate. I hadn't done anything that day except get out of bed, go to the bathroom, get something to eat and lay or sit on the couch. No exercise no nothing. My resting heart rate was 100-110! Way too high for doing nothing! So, the nurse spoke to my oncologist and told me that if it happened again I was to go to the ER and have an EKG done to see what was going on. When she said that all I could see was dollar signs for the ER bill. However, after awhile I realized that my health was so much more important than a damn doctor bill. The bill would be paid eventually but my health has no price on it. Needless to say, I never had to go to the ER. On my third AC treatment, I saw a different oncologist as mine was gone for the week. He told me that I should probably not go back to work until we figured out what was going on. So, they wrote me a "get out of work" letter. I was gone from work until Sept. 3rd. When I went into my 3rd chemo treatment, the nurse told me that my racing heart rate was probably from the Compazine I was taking for nausea. They gave it to me in liquid form before that but I never took the pills after and felt a bit better. Heart wasn't pounding so hard but was still pretty high. The fourth treatment was way better as my oncologist took me off of Compazine altogether. I was very grateful for that as my niece was getting married the following weekend, and I really didn't want to have any issues for that! So, my last AC treatment was August 10th. Two weeks later, on August 24th, I started the twelve weekly treatments of Taxol. I have done three treatments, so 1/4 of the way done! Woo hoo! This one is a heck of a lot better to handle than AC! I still have lots of fatigue and get wore out fairly quickly if I do too much. Who knew that doing one load dishes would tire me out and I'd have to sit down for awhile!? Am I 97 or 47? wow! Now the main side effects I get besides fatigue is insomnia. Great now I'm tired and can't sleep more than 4 hours a night! Oh, did I mention the body aches that happen? Yeah, like someones poking a needle into you at random times and random spots on your body. No concept of time either so waking up at 2 am, after falling asleep around 1 am, to a sharp pain in your knee, shin, hip, arm, wherever it decides it wants to hit is so much fun! Oh and the hot flashes is another real treat to deal with. Ok, now I know I'm old and around "that age" but this is horrible! Why did God curse us with Aunt Flo to begin with but give it to us for 30-40 years and then have us go through crap to make it stop!? I would like to go back to Adam and Eve and bitch slap her! So other than all those things, so far I'm doing well. I don't have much hair on my head and even less on my body but that's ok. It means less money spent on shampoo, conditioner, hair products, razors, shaving cream....yeah, it's a good thing.  I did start back to work on Wed, Aug. 29th at the gas station. It went well. I was tired but not too bad as I knew it's a lot easier there than at Gustavus. I started back at Gustavus on Mon, Sept. 3rd. I was hoping to work about 5-5 1/2 hrs a day for 4 days a week. Yeah, wishful thinking! For those that have been through chemo and going back to work you know that probably wasn't going to work. I'm sure you guys are thinking or saying out loud "is she crazy? She's not going to be able to that!" You guys are right! I worked Mon for over 6 hours because one of my student leaders didn't show and I felt bad for the other student leader so I helped her close the station. For those that don't know I work at Gustavus Adolphus College in dining services. I run the Gustie Grille in the afternoon and evening. I cook over a grill, fry food and serve customers. I'm on my feet the whole time, except for potty breaks and my breaks. So to stand on my feet for 5 -5 1/2 hrs is going to be taxing for me as I've been a couch potato for three months. I did it though. it was a good day as I received hellos, good to see you, missed you, glad to have you back, and so many hugs from students, coworkers, friends, colleagues. It was a good day. Tues came and as the day went I knew I overdid it the day before. My body was like jello. Another six hour day....ooops. Wed I called in because I could barely move. I was exhuasted. Thurs I went in and worked another six hour day. My coworker was worried and told me to stop doing so much and ask for help. I told her that I was ok with "overdoing" it on Thurs because Fri was chemo day and I could rest Fri-Sun. However, I know that I cannot work like I did and do what I did before all this. I have to learn to ask for help, to delegate duties to the student leaders, to not do so much. It's a very hard pill to swallow but I've had to swallow many large pills over the last few years. It's something we all go through at one time or another in our lives. However, going through breast cancer and treatment, it's something I've learned to do. Ask for help because if I don't I could be in trouble. I've already dealt with enough in my life. I'm beginning to wonder what God is doing up there to me. "Eh, she doesn't have enough to deal with yet, let's raise her mortgage and make her struggle a bit. Oh, and let's double her city bill so she really feels the crunch. And let's give her breast cancer so she's out of work for three months and has to go through chemo and radiation. She'll feel like crap for a year!" Yeah, thanks but I doubt God did this to me. If He did, it's making me a much stronger person than I was!