Treatment Aftermath #1

WARNING: Do not read on if you do not care to know the details of my side effects.  Some people may like to stay naive when it comes to that and I completely understand.  I would rather not get weird glances from people because they read this entry!

I ended up taking more time than expected to recuperate after chemo.  Chemo was on Thursday.  I took off Friday, had the weekend and then stayed home Monday as well. This treatment was not as bad as I anticipated, which is why I always prepare for the worst.  That way, when things are not as bad, I am quite relieved.

Thursday evening after treatment: During the drive home I was like a crazy woman, pumped up for the steroids.  Every mention of food, or fast food joint along the drive triggered my stomach and I continuously yelled out about all the foods I was craving!  As it was, I ate 2 packs of fruit snacks, a small bag of pretzels and licked some cottage cheese (ew I gagged just writing that word) out of a container during the hour drive home.  When we got home my mother-in-law had dinner ready for us.  I ate two grilled cheese & ham sandwiches and drank a bunch of raspberry lemonade.  The lemonade ended up being a big mistake.  I had the worst heartburn of my life.  I was burping fire for a while until the acid medicine kicked in.  The rest of the night I felt semi-normal until bed time.  I fell asleep fine, but was WIDE awake from 1:30 - 3:30.  At this time I had some pains in my stomach.  I took the time to chat online with a fellow cancer patient who was up for the same reason.  I also woke up again around 5am.  Since I did not sleep well, I decided not to go to work.  Later I realized that was a good choice.

Friday:  I felt like I had crazy energy most of the day but in between the bouts of energy I had hot flashes and a racing heart.  A friend brought over lunch, 3 chicken & cheese tacos.  I housed them.  I am supposed to eat a lot of protein and dairy so that was a good lunch.  By the late afternoon I was coming down from the steroids.  I did not like that feeling.  I had a very long hot flash and my heart raced for over an hour.  I called the doctor and they assured me it was most likely from the steroids and to call them back if it did not stop within an hour.  Thankfully it did stop.  They advised me to take a Benadryl next time to counter-act the side effects.  I am thinking that is a good idea.  I did not like how I felt.

Saturday:  During the morning I felt ok but was very tired.  I did have to take Zofran throughout the day to fight off nausea and dizziness.  By Saturday evening my skin started to hurt.  I did NOT like that feeling.  Imagine having a high fever and your body hurts.  That is how my skin felt, minus the fever.  It hurt to rub against my pillow or brush my hair out of my face.  I slept pretty well that night and when I woke up my skin was not as sore.  I am hoping I will always be able to sleep through that because it was gross.  If I have to I will take a Xanax.  Anything to avoid feeling poopy!

Sunday: VERY TIRED and somewhat weak.  Little bit of nausea too.  Also very constipated, YUCK!  Patients can get diarrhea or constipation.  Neither option is much fun.  I had a horrible stomachache.  I began taking Senocot, which is similar to Ducolax, but nothing happened.  I take 2 fiber gummies each day too.  Nothing.  So, I had to get this disgustingly sour Mag Citrate.  Do not believe advertisements.  It is nothing like Sprite.  It tastes like liquid lemon.  I could not handle it.  I nearly puked.  Hudson thought my gaggy face was funny.  At least someone enjoyed the drink, ha!  This lovely drink is supposed to start working within an hour.  WRONG.  I never went to the bathroom until Tuesday afternoon.  Oh the joys of drug side effects.

Monday:  Feeling better, but still tired.  I felt pretty normal again except I did not have much energy.  I spent most of the day in bed watching cheesy Lifetime movies (guilty pleasure) and checking the Internet.  I really wanted beef jerky throughout the day but had to energy to drive myself to the store, so I gave up on that craving.  My dad and Claudia brought pulled pork for dinner.  That helped satisfy my meaty craving.

Tuesday:  Back to work.  I had to leave at 2pm.  The muscles in my back were aching and exhausted.  I came home and threw myself into bed.  I am pretty sure I was asleep in less than a minute.

Today (Wednesday): I stayed home until lunch time today.  I took a Motrin to take the edge off the muscle aches.  Since I was well rested the afternoon was much more productive and enjoyable.  My appetite is pretty much back to normal too.  I had a smoothie for the first time since my treatment.  YUM!

I am amazed by the amount of drugs one can take while on chemo.  The philosophy is to treat the side effects so that each patient feels the best they possibly can after infusions.  That being said my counter is littered with over-the-counter drugs.  Zantac, Gaviscon (liquid & chewables) to help with heartburn and sour stomach, Zofran for nausea, eye drops to deal with dry-eye, Motrin for back pain, Benadryl to fight off allergy reactions, Xanax as needed for anxiety and I am sure I missed something.

The other crazy part is the food cravings and aversions.  It is like being pregnant, but for me, far worse.  The morning after my treatment I went to prepare Hudson's lunch and could not even open the cottage cheese.  I had to yell for Frank to scoop it into a container while I was in the other room.  It had to be returned to the fridge before I could finish packing for him.

I have been craving meat non-stop.  I am not a huge meat-eater, but my body needs the protein to heal after infusions.  That explains my major need for beef jerky and chicken taquitos at 1030am!

I am already starting to feel better.  My back is less sore and I have more range of motion.  I am tossing and turning in bed again.  I have been unable to move in bed for MONTHS.  I asked my nurse if I truly was feeling a response to the medicine or if it was a placebo effect.  She said the one medicine I am getting is very strong and that it is very possible that it is already killing some cancer cells!!!!!

I FINALLY get radiation on Friday, March 15 in the late afternoon.  I cannot wait.  That will help my back heal even further.  Then I can begin strengthening my muscles and getting back into shape.