Well, round two sucked almost as much as round one. Clearly the additional meds they gave me and the reduction of the chemo didn't have the desired effect. The nausea hit hard on Thursday night of my first week and extended through, well, now. Today is the first day, however, that I have any energy at all and I even made myself a (bad) plate of dippy eggs this morning. And ate them. That's impressive. I was supposed to call my doc Monday morning if I wasn't feeling any better, but I didn't. I know, I know, blah, blah, blah, but the last thing you want to do when you're teetering on the edge of vomiting is get on the phone to tell your doc and then have her order you to the center for more fluids. Especially since the IV was taken out Friday and I would've been stabbed in my port again. Which hurts. No thanks. Plus that hour car ride with nausea is brutal. Can PA PLEASE do something about it's horrendous roads????? I realized a few things this time, though. 1 - Diarrhea added to nausea is not good. 2 - Mouth sores make you more nauseous when you swallow. 3 - The extreme back pain I got in round one was not a coincidence. I'm going to have to nip that one in the bud. It came at the same time each treatment and lasts for about 2 days. It's like a vice on my back when I make any single movement and I have to sort of hold my breath and ease into any position. Very few are comfortable. Seeing as I tried not to stay in bed all day this time and actually made it to the couch more often, I think the pain is from one of two things: either my bed (I switched positions after the last time so I now sleep head to foot in the bed, and the night before I got the pain I switched back for some dumb reason. Plus it's a TempurPedic, which really pisses me off cause it shouldn't matter. I hate that bed.) or the Neulasta shot I get for increased white blood cells. The shot is only supposed to affect bones, really, and give you a flu like feeling (which I assure you this is not), but next time I'm going to try to take Tylenol a few days after the shot and see if it helps. I just hate adding drugs on drugs. I take so many as it is, I feel like they're going to start to work against each other and themselves at some point.
Today is recovery day. I'm on the computer, eating as much as I can to make up for lost time, catching up on the non-existent summer shows (oooh! I just realized I have a SYTYCD to watch! Yay!), etc. I'm usually beat by 7PM, which stinks because Kat is WOUND UP at that time and I don't get to spend much quality time with her anymore as it is. It's just too much some days. I'd take a nap but, well, I don't really like to nap. Especially after having been in bed for a week with not much of a choice.
OK, enough for today. Before I go I have a couple of notes I want to make. Please make sure you watch the Stand Up 2 Cancer fundraiser THIS FRIDAY, September 7, on all major networks and give what you can.
Also, I found this fantastic site that sends one free head scarf for anyone losing hair for any medical reason and I wanted to share. Anyone that does something that good should be promoted. Go to Good Wishes Scarves to check them out.
xo- Lisa
Hi Lisa, what I have learned from my cancer experience is take the meds. Ask for more! They have good meds for nausea, you just have to keep trying different until you find one that works for you. You also need to tell them how much pain you are in. They most likely will have to get you on prescription pain killers before you start the treatment so you don't feel that pain. Not much you can do about the mouth sores and diarrhea, but my clinic made this awesome mix of medication that you put in your mouth to numb the pain and then spit it out. I know you probably feel crazy with all the meds you are already on, but chemo sucks royally so you deserve to feel as good as you can while going through it. As for the metallic taste, I found Hawaiian punch and cranberry juice were they only things that did not taste like metal. Hang in there! I am routing for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Tami! This is very helpful. I will definintely share things with my doc and see if they can give me anything better next time. I certainly don't want to be sick for 2 weeks every time!
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