The Chemo Hangover Cure

Good meds, good friends, and good sleep.

Wow, that was a doozie!  The feeling like crap and just wanting to hide in a dark hole lasted a full 24 hours.  Then top it with a couple of days of feeling drugged up, achy, and lethargic - whew!  I was talking with someone who is also going through the same treatment as me (you'll get to meet her in my next post!) and we were both in agreeance - it is rather unexpected to feel such heavy side-effects when the chemo is actually rather easy.  And when I say easy, I mean easy in comparison to all of the other lymphoma chemos and their side effects (vomiting, losing hair, sleeping for days, losing/gaining drastic weight, etc.).  I have just not prepped myself mentally that the side-effects might be harder than I anticipated.  My oncologist and her resident are so upbeat and positive about this drug and its minimal side-effects.  And when I hear "minimal" I really hear "non-existent".  Whelp, time to face the facts.  Sure it might be an easy chemo, but it's still CHEMO!  Haha, I need to stop being such a hot shot and allow myself to be a wimp.  That way when I feel like crap I don't get so down-in-the-dumps about it.  So starting next treatment, I will no longer be driving myself home.  I'm going to try one more half day the day after treatment, but if again it's too hard, I will start taking the whole entire day off.  AND I will be better about asking for help this time - promise!  (I got in a bit of trouble from friends about that one.  It's good to be loved :).

As for the new meds, I am experiencing nausea for the first time on this drug.  Nothing bad, I'm not going to throw up.  But you know that feeling in the back of your jaw and for some reason you are salivating with hiccups?  Welcome to my mornings.  And afternoons.  And evenings.  It's only a few times a day, but it's ANNOYING!  It was rather intense the day after treatment.  So I gave my nurse coordinator a call on Monday.  She finds it interesting that I'm just now starting to get this side effect.  (Although they are also thrown off that my neuropathy isn't a problem right now either.)  I've had stomach issues since day one with the chemo pill and I'm still sensitive to certain foods on this chemo.  My nausea might be caused from my stomach just hating the chemo.  So I'm on a med that slowly releases happy thoughts to my stomach all day so it won't get upset.  I like to picture my stomach with a mean face yelling up at my esophagus and then, BOOM! the happy meds release and my stomach clams down nicely with a smile.  Haha, can you tell I work with children all day?!

A little less than 2 weeks till the next treatment.  Of course I'm totally not looking forward to it, but at least I'm ready!!