Sorry it's been a few days since I've updated. Last week was rough and I just didn't have the mental energy to put thoughts down. And now it's all fuzzy! Anyway, I had my chemo session 2.1 last week (1st cycle of the 2nd chemo regimen) on Monday. We had some disagreements with our oncologist about the anti-nausea pre-medication. Last time I started chemo they gave me Kytril which is effective for 12 hours. What good does that do a person who is having a 46-hour continuous infusion? Not much. Anyway, they claim that the insurance companies won't pay for the better drug: Aloxi. Aloxi is effective for 3 days at least. So, I had to take Kytril, get sick and supplement with Zofran before they would approve Aloxi. This time we had to repeat that process. And it's not like Zofran is cheap. The retail price of the 15 Zofran pills (and I think we have the generic even) was just under $600.00. It cost us a $5.00 copay. Anyway, I digress... with me getting the weaker premedication (Kytril) then having to supplement with Zofran , my stomach was kept on a teeter-totter. So, it was unsettled a lot which made me even more tired than I already was, plus I just didn't want to eat or drink. Which leads to dehydration. Which can be very bad.
So, I slept a lot. Or tried to. My eyes weren't comfortable open or closed. When they were open they were so tired they wanted to be closed. When they were closed then my eyelids felt heavy on my eyeballs, so my eyeballs wanted my eyes open. It was a struggle. Usually sleep won out but getting there was an effort.
By Friday I started feeling more energy and Friday evening it was like a switch was flipped. I wasn't ready to go shopping (we did that Saturday - until I crashed) but I was ready to eat a small amount of ice cream. That was an indication that my appetite was returning because on chemo I absolutely do not want anything sweet. It really is a good weight loss plan! One that I would not recommend...
I would like to take this moment to send out a very warm, heartfelt "Thank You" to my wonderful co-workers. Even though I'm on medical leave (and am actually on Social Security disability for the time being) I still technically have a job since they say they want me back when I am ready. And they are so generous! Every few days some wonderful dish of food shows up. I had no idea there were such wonderful cooks in the lab! The meals are so appreciated and really help out when I just have no energy. It really takes our minds off of meal prep and has really made things so much easier for us. We do still cook on non-chemo weeks like this one but on chemo weeks having something ready to heat and eat really makes it easier for me to eat when I can and keep what little energy I have up.
One more thing about the food: a few days ago a container of mushroom risotto showed up in the cooler. I don't know who left it. I'd like to request a bucket of it next time!!! It came just as I was getting around to eating again but I bet I could eat it even when my appetite is really low. It was that good! Anyway, thank you and please share the recipe with me.
My hair: I don't really know what to expect. I have been told that there's a very high chance of it all falling out and then someone else will say it'll thin gradually but not all fall out. I know that when chemo makes your hair fall out then your scalp feels tender and yesterday it did start feeling that way. But I still don't know what that means for me regarding hair loss. I am prepared with a wig, some hats, and eyebrow stencil and eyebrow pencils. If I have to go the wig route I'm not actually bothered by that. Having ready-to-wear hair may be nice (it'll always look good) and perhaps having a fresh start to my hair color corrections would be a good thing when it comes back in.
