Tag Archives: chemo

Side effects and More

21 Wednesday Aug 2024

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SIDE EFFECTS AND THEN SOME

Day 15

August 21, 2024

So, side effects have come to visit. I’ll start by saying no Hand and foot syndrome yet. Thank God. I do have nausea, general stomach pain, diarrhea, immense fatigue, and loss of appetite. These effects started happening last Wednesday, when I was nauseated on the drives to and from my uncle’s funeral, and they aren’t showing any signs of going away. The diarrhea has just been small amounts at a time, but it’s been all day and all night for the past two days. I might possibly be a little better today, but it’s too soon to tell.

The fatigue, I called it immense, because it seems even worse than what I had before. Yesterday, for instance, I went back to bed around 9 AM and slept until around 2 PM or so. I stayed up late watching the Democratic convention, but it was a struggle. I felt exhausted and ready for bed by 6 PM. It’s just after 9 now, and I feel ready to go to sleep, but I’m not giving in right now.

The loss of appetite is about the same as the first round of chemo with the higher dose of the meds. Even when I do eat, I eat tiny amounts of food. Maybe I will have a smoothie and drink an ensure. I can’t eat a full meal these days. I’ve now lost just over 15 pounds since this all started. I was overweight, so people don’t notice the loss, or nobody is saying they notice it. It’s got to be the appetite thing, because otherwise, why would a woman who isn’t exercising be losing so much weight in just two months. I’m still at the stage where I’m glad of the weight loss, even though I probably shouldn’t be glad. It doesn’t mean I’m healthy or anything cool like that. I feel like I’m not going to worry about it until none of my clothes fit or people start commenting about me losing weight.

I had a wonderful surprise this past Monday. A dear old friend I haven’t seen in at least 15 years and to whom I haven’t spoken in 3 and a half years, called me yesterday. We talked for a long time, catching up. It was great to hear from him and I’m hoping he may come for a visit someday. I’d let him know I was back in California, but somehow, he didn’t remember that and still thought I was in Colorado. Typical in many ways. It was a happy break during this time.

A week from tomorrow I go back to see Dr. Z. I have to get lab work done before that of course. I can’t remember if I explained why the lab work earlier in this journey, so I’ll mention it here. The big thing is to check my white and red blood cell counts. Chemo that destroys bad cells also destroys good cells, and my blood cell counts can change a little or drastically. They also check for a lot of other things, and in particular, they check for my kidney function. This is vital since I only have the one kidney now. I’m hoping we can get a CT scan sometime in September, so we can find out if the chemo is having an effect on the cancer at all. Still, I take my little pill every day, and I hope.

I’ve said before that this is a one day at a time kind of thing. It’s also a bit of a roller coaster, with my mood creeping up those steep hills, say after an unexpected phone call, and then the mood plunging back down to the bottom as the side effects take hold and don’t seem to want to let go. Today, I just feel tired, so tired. I’m hoping I can make it through tonight’s Convention speeches. Tonight is Secretary Pete and governor Walz, and I’m excited to hear them both. Right this minute however, I feel like I’d just like to go to bed and sleep for a very long time.

DID I SPEAK TOO SOON?

15 Thursday Aug 2024

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DID I SPEAK TOO SOON?

Treatment day 9:

August 15, 2024

Remember my last post when I said I wasn’t having many side effects? Yeah, well, that seems to have changed a little bit. No hand and foot syndrome, thank God. But my tongue has a mild version of feeling like I ate or drank something too hot and burned it, and my lips are dry and cracked all the time, even with chap stick or Vaseline on them. I’ve had bouts of nausea several times, still no vomiting but nausea. I had one day with some diarrhea, but that seems to have gone away. Yesterday I was out with my sister most of the day. We went to a family function, with an hour and a half drive to and from the event. I felt sick in the car both ways, and I’ve never been car sick in my life! We actually stopped on the way home to get water, so I could take one of my nausea pills. So, my friend the side effects are back!

The fatigue hasn’t really come back, but I’ve had the opposite problem. I am not sleeping well. I’ve been falling asleep and then waking up anywhere from midnight to 4 AM and staying awake until it’s time to get up. I’ve also had times where I can’t fall asleep for hours, but mostly it’s the other way. Last night I was exhausted after my long day. I went to bed around 9:30 in the evening, slept deeply and well until about 1 AM, and I’ve been awake ever since. This has got to stop. I’m frustrated.

My appetite is still relatively okay. Not perfect. I was just getting it back when the new meds arrived, so now it’s sometimes not there and sometimes is. When I do eat, it’s not a lot at a time, but it’s at least getting something down me. A smoothie, a casserole of some sort without tomatoes or anything spicy or acidy. One night I had mac and cheese, and another night pre-made mashed potatoes from the grocery store. I even got sweet and sour chicken the other day and found it delicious, having left overs of that today. And I ate Salmon at the family thing yesterday. I’m working on that nutrition thing!

I went to my uncle’s funeral and celebration of life yesterday and had a marvelous time. I can hardly talk today, but the event was a blast. The service was beautiful, the most beautiful funeral service I’ve ever attended. We went to another venue for the life celebration, where I saw many family members, I hadn’t seen in far too many years. The food was incredibly good, and I’ve always disliked Salmon. But if I could make salmon that tasted like that, absolutely not fishy, I’d eat salmon several times a week! After dinner they passed around microphones so people could tell stories about my uncle. They were moving, funny, and reaffirmed all that we knew him to be.

But I nearly reached my brick wall. It was hot yesterday; I wasn’t feeling well; I’d been up and bubbly and cheerful, sitting on uncomfortable chairs that were too high for my feet to touch the ground. I just reached the moment when Rosie knew by looking at me that it was time to leave. But we’d been there about three hours, so we said farewell to those we could find and headed for home, almost two hours away. I’m very happy I went, and I truly hope to continue to rebuild relationships with the people I saw at the event.

I planned the day out well though, cancer and treatment wise. I brought my biggest purse. Inside, with my phone, disabled parking pass and other purse type stuff, I had one zip lock bag with my dog Shani’s food and a collapsible bowl for her dinner and water. I had a tiny purse in the big one too, with all my necessities. I packed a number of disinfectant wipes in a sealed double bag. I brought my nausea pills and the diarrhea medicine, all of this just in case. Life is complicated these days, and these are things I have to consider before going out.