I thought I would share with you what it's like to do chemo. First of all, it changes the way I eat quite a bit. During "chemo" week my appetite is quite altered. I never get nauseated (they give me some pretty high-powered anti-nausea drugs before my infusion) but I always feel that I could get "tipped." That's to say my stomach feels sensitive and if I eat the wrong thing then I could get sick. And mostly the wrong thing is meat or very sweet things, like cinnamon rolls. But I find that most vegetables are do-able so I become a vegetarian for a week. Not a bad thing, really. I also eat more fruit. This is because it tastes good but I'm also looking for ways to get fluids. It's hard for me to drink cool liquids since it makes my throat hurt. My neighbor gave us some very juicy plums yesterday and these are going down very well.
Another thing that I have noticed related to food is that when it comes to eating, what I want to eat is quite specific at that moment. For instance, some nights I feel like I only want mac & cheese, so we eat mac & cheese. Sometimes what I want we don't have so Dave goes to the store... This does make me somewhat of a picky eater. So, I lose a few pounds during chemo week but then I put them back on the next week. Because during the "good" week my appetite is completely normal and I can eat anything. So, I do!
Other effects: I get very tired, so I take lots of naps. I also get mad at my pump because I'll take it off of my shoulder while eating or napping, and I'll forget about it. Until I start to walk away. Then I curse at it just as the tubing that's attached to my chest gets stretched tight. This happens all the time! You'd think I'd learn. Oh, well, only 4 more cycles to go so I'll only have the pump tomorrow (until about noon) and then 8 more days total. I tote it around with me for 46 hours each treatment cycle.
Overall the side effects could be worse. My surgeon and my oncologist say I am lucky that I have no diarrhea because most people do suffer from it. I don't really get mouth sores which can be common. I had a very small one last cycle that I didn't even know about. The oncologist saw it and told me about it. My hair is still on my head, but that was to be expected. The main things with me are the hand & feet neuropathy, which may take a while to resolve itself even when I'm done with chemo. Also, the throat sensitivity to cold which makes me a bit dehydrated. But that's pretty resolved by the end of each 2-week cycle so I don't expect any lasting issues with that. The other main thing is the tiredness. I am usually pretty out of it Wednesdays and Thursdays, and start to come around on Friday. Saturday I still tire easily but if I take it easy (and this goes for the next few days too) I can usually resume normal activities as long as I stay away from anything cold.
OK, that's it... that's what it's like for me. I'm glad to be counting down small numbers now so it'll be over in a couple of months.
