Tough Week

     This has been a tough week.

 

     My third chemo was a week ago. Maybe it's because I'm not feeling as well as I thought I should be by now...so that makes it tough.

Maybe it was tough because of my bonus week...I was feeling SO great with the extra week away from chemo that this third round just hit really hard.

Maybe it was because my symptoms were not what I was expecting...more on that below.

Maybe it was that the chemo is cumulative...my oncologist says no, it shouldn't be, but others say yes, it is cumulative.

Or maybe it was my attitude...knowing that I'd have to get really sick again before I'd feel good. Whatever the reason, this week was one I'd have liked to experienced less of and slept through more.

 

     Side effects from this chemo round were somewhat different than what I had expected. Instead of mouth sores, the entire inside of my mouth peeled. I'm still dealing with that issue and trying to eat. The inside of my mouth is still red and tender. 

 

Bowel issues...Well, I will spare you the gory details of that whole dilemma!!!

 

I had the regular nausea but it lasted three days longer than in the past. Bone pain was manageable, not pleasant, but manageable. I had neuropathy, tingly fingers and toes. This makes fine motor skills like buttoning buttons, writing, etc. a little more challenging. My nose ran the entire week which is typical of the last two rounds. My sense of taste and smell were really distorted! Water tasted really BAD! Therefore, I got dehydrated.

 

     Sleep was also a problem. Saturday night I went to bed at 10:00pm (maybe therein lies the problem. I never go to bed that early!!!). I was still WIDE awake at 3:50am. I tried EVERY trick I knew of to fall asleep. I even double checked that I took the right meds, thinking I had taken a wrong med that keeps me awake. Nope, right meds but still no sleep. Toss, turn, stomach pains, trot to the bathroom, adjust pillow, cover, read, uncover, pains, bathroom, turn to other side, take hat off (too hot), check time, cover head, readjust pillow, pains, bathroom, turn over, put hat back on (too cold), read, and on and on and on! 

 

     Finally, I did something I have never done before!

 

I have never taken anything to help me sleep so I decided to take a Tylenol PM. It definitely made me sleepy and very dizzy. Then the process began again: stomach pains, try to wake up enough to MAKE it to the bathroom. Repeat every 45 minutes.

 

The golden thread here is that looking back, it would have been pretty darn funny to watch me TRY to make my way from the bed to the bathroom and back each time. The Tylenol PM made me so dizzy that I hit the bedroom door frame, the floor fan, the chair, missed the bathroom light three times, and then as I was trying to quietly shut the bathroom door, (after all those noisy thumps) I misjudged the amount it had to close each and every time and...slam! All I can say is, "Poor Arland!!!" Trying to sleep was a challenge for him too that night!

     Speaking of sleep...it's an issue tonight too (or should I say this morning because it is 2:45am and I am awake again). I slept for about an hour and then have been awake the rest of the time. Guess that gives me time and a good reason to get up and write!