Steady chemo progress

It is late Friday/early Saturday, and after receiving chemotherapy on Thursday, I have once again not experienced any of what the literature describes as any of the more common side effects for Gemzar. Thursday's was the third chemo treatment, and after having the insertion vein irritated during my second treatment -- which left a small part of my arm tender to the touch almost a week later (although not actively hurting) the oncology nurses seem to have figured out how to dilute the Gemzar with saline enough that it didn't irritate at all going in. That compensated nicely for the 0ncology office people seeming a little confused about what my schedule was going to be. Jen thinks they're not accustomed to patients asking as many questions and asking for copies of all lab reports, etc. as we do. Having this followed by no side effects -- indeed, I had enough energy to treat our slatted teak outdoor coffee table with teak oil, a painstakingly detailed job which improved its appearance and durability about 1,000 percent -- I feel pretty good about my progress. (Jen accomplished more, putting a beautiful stain on and renewing the appearance and functionality of our pool deck.

I still don't feel focused enough to spend eight or so hours a day at the computer, but I'm getting there, maybe. My chemo treatment is three weeks on, one week off, to be followed by radiation treatment (daily) in combination with a different chemo substance, then another cycle of straight Gemzar. That still leaves what seems like a long time -- two months -- before treatment is done and I can truly go back to work. But one can almost see the end in sight -- closer to the end now than to the beginning, which it hasn't felt like until just recently.