Tired

I decided to take all the children along to Jacob's chemo appointment today. After all, it was just the Vincristine that he was receiving, which take less than a minute to administer. Even with waiting for doctors and nurses and labs I assumed we would be out of there in about an hour or so. I was wrong.

First it took two full hours to meet with the doctors, have labs drawn, and finally receive the Vincristine. Just as the nurse was finishing the chemo another nurse arrived to tell us that Jacob's Hemoglobin was down to 6.1 and that he would need a transfusion. Drat!

While they were waiting for the blood to arrive I took the kids down to the cafeteria for some lunch. We arrived at the transfusion room and waited another hour and a half for the pre-meds and blood to arrive. After all was said and done, I spent six hours in a tiny room with three children. Jacob wasn't able to leave the room during his transfusion and he wanted me to stay with him so it was an experience trying to keep everyone entertained. Luckily, there was a television that kept them busy for about five minutes and Child Life did bring in a train set and Barbies to play with. By the time we left the hospital at 4pm (having arrived there at 10am) I was exhausted and still had a two hour drive home ahead of me.

Back home I was blessed by my husband who watched the kids so I could soak in a bubble bath. I am now about ready to head to bed and know I will be asleep soon after my head hits the pillow.

It's not just today that tired me out. I have been exhausted for weeks. If I didn't know any better I would think I am pregnant (which I'm not). I'm just that tired. At my checkup last week I spoke to the doctor about it and he ordered several blood tests, testing for things such as Lupus and other auto-immune disorders. The tests came back fine. The bad thing is that these tests aren't always conclusive, and other disorders (such as Chronic Fatigue) don't even show up on the tests.

I know a lot of it has to do with stress. I've had my fair share of it the past several months. I realized today (actually, I realized it last week at the doctor's office when I stepped on the scale) that my eating habits have become horrible. I've been eating when stressed. Eating too much. Eating the bad stuff. Eating too much fast food and greasy food. Or as I told the doctor: shoving my face full of food.

It has to stop. Or else I need to buy a whole new wardrobe and get an electric scooter just to get around since I am tired. My goal this weekend is to stock up on healthy food and detoxify my system starting tomorrow. Even going full force for a few days should show me if my diet is contributing to my fatigue. I planned a menu and shopping list out this evening and even ran across some delicious looking recipes. If it ends up being a success I shall share the recipes and my story with you all.

But for now I'm off to bed. Did I mention that I'm tired?