Balancing Act

I’ve completed the first week of the second round of chemo and have not gained a single pound (of the dread water weight). I’m cautiously optimistic enough to think that I might have finally found the correct balance between the doses of the chemo drugs, the amount of water I drink each day, the amount of what kind of foods I eat each day (with a special eye on not too much sodium), and the timing of my diuretic. It’s taken a long time to get to this point and, frankly, it’s been exhausting. Every day I drink a little more or less water, I have a little more or less sodium, I change the time I take my diuretic and then wait -- wait until I can weigh myself the next morning to see if I lost, gained or maintained my weight. The next day, it’s a repeat of the same thing to see how my weight reacts.