Side Effects

Sorry it’s been a week since my last post. As indicated by this title I have spent it dealing with various side effects and my brother is trying to drag me (kicking and screaming) in to a “better” site. So we will see if I can get it to work. If not he’s already been warned he can’t yell at me cuz I have cancer.

So my last week. In some ways it was better then expected, but it’s still chemo, so it sucked. I think I have walked away with some lessons learned and I definitely have a much deeper medicine cabinet now.

Day one. As I mentioned in my last post I suffered during the actual treatment from a burning sensation in my nose and an emergency bathroom stop on my drive home. Lesson #1 don’t eat until you are feet away from your own bathroom.

Day two. A friend described the feeling as being hungover. The nurses kept referring to morning sickness but since I’ve never been pregnant that means nothing to me. Hungover is a good descriptor. Wasn’t quite so sick that I was puking but more just queasy all day. Fortunately they give you medicine for this and I was smart enough to take it and not try to tough it out. But in addition to the upset stomach I had the great feeling of waking up to my face on fire. Ever been out on the frozen tundra when the wind is howling and your face gets wind burnt, that’s what I felt like. And I even looked it too. My husband, step-daughter and nurse all pointed out how red my face was. This was not a side effect I was warned about and the nurse was little to no help (go put your face in the cold river, really?). But one of the reasons to do this blog is that maybe one person will stumble on it and realize they aren’t alone in these side effects. The technical term is flushing and just as a blog I stumbled across stated, it only lasted about a day. Lesson #2 the nurses don’t know everything, but they did suggest benadryl which seemed to help, so keep benadryl on hand.

Day three. Now mind you on day two I had to drive back to Lewiston to get my nulesta shot. I had been warned by the same friend who told me I would feel hungover and the sometimes helpful nurses that I would likely suffer from bone aches as my body went in to overdrive producing white blood cells. Fortunately all had advised me to start talking claritan and Tylenol the night before the shot and continue for five days. So they were right, can’t imagine what my body would’ve felt like with out that cocktail but I ached. Think flu like ache. Hips, thighs, back. And by this time I was heading to bed early, maybe blame the year older I was that day but for several days following I was in bed by seven (usually six). Lesson #3 keep taking clariton but maybe try Aleve rather than Tylenol.

Day four. By now I was noticing I hadn’t made a bathroom visit for #2 since my emergency stop. Not good! So now I started a cocktail of prescribed stool softeners, otc drugs and various laxatives. Let me just sum up days four through eight, essentially a wildly swinging pendulum of nothing to the dam broke! Finally today I feel like I’ve gotten a handle on it and am closer to having a normal visit to the bathroom sometime in my future. I hope. Lesson #4 start the drugs day one and don’t wait four days. I mean I’ve always been accused of being full of shit, but even for me it was a bit much.

So days four through seven are a bit of a repeat. Achy body, tired, bathroom runs that may or may not produce. But by day seven thanks to all that extra porcelain time my lower back and abdomen felt like they went ten rounds with Tyson. I had such horrible cramps I was in tears. Sitting, not happening. Laying, hell no. Walking, think Tim Conway’s little old man shuffle. Lesson #5 heating pads (yes plural) are my friends.

So there you go. A week in my life post chemo treatment.  Not horrible but definitely no picnic. Hoping the lessons learned and the knowledge of what to expect will help with round two.