It Gets Better

Mary Jo is still fighting fatigue, aching muscles and joints from the cumulative effects of chemo and radiation but she is in great spirits and trying to get her rest. She has discovered that at a minimum, she needs at least ten hours of uninterrupted sleep per day. She feels best if she gets about 12 hours of sleep. This is why if she is entertaining (as she does) and does not get to bed before midnight and Opie wakes her up occasionally during the night, she finds that she can't seem to get going before noon or 1pm the next day. Mary Jo's oncologist, Dr Gall tells us that the fatigues can easily last for up to a year. Another chemo related side effect is what oncologists call "chemo brain" which is short term memory loss. Mary Jo just jokes that there are "no re-runs" at our house. Sometimes it is like living with an Alzheimer’s patient but this too is expected to improve over the next year or so.