OK ... Lots of Side Effects

Back to chemo cycle #1! We had left the hospital and I was feeling pretty good.  Not great, but good.  I'm sure there was still a lot of uncertainty and anticipation bubbling just below the surface.  What would the evening be like?

It started out great, as it happens.  I ate a normal supper (mistake #1) because I was feeling so good.  I had taken my anti-nausea meds 30 minutes prior to chemo, and another one at 6 p.m.  About 10 p.m. I took a different anti-nausea med and quickly climbed the stairs up to my bedroom (mistake #2).  Within minutes of changing for bed, my mouth started getting that lovely over-salivating feeling that something's not quite right.  I dashed for the bathroom as quickly as I could, and just made it!  I threw up violently!!  I called for my #1 nurse, Kate, who came and sat with me in the bathroom, and then my bedroom for quite some time.  Since I was sure I had thrown up my last medication, I took one of my pretty, orange "rescue" pills.

I did manage to get 4 or 5 hours of sleep, but as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning, there was that over-salivating happening again ... run!!  My stomach was NOT good!!!  Just the thought of eating, drinking, or smelling anything made me nauseous.  This was bad!  This was what was NOT supposed to happen, according to all the oncologists and nurses.

Kate and Moya set off for the grocery store to purchase lots of items on the "Foods that Help Nausea" list given to me at the chemo teach session such as ginger ale, club soda, and pretzels.  I tried very little bits of a few things, and they stayed down.   My eating was pretty meager for  several days (not that that would hurt my waistline at all).

Day 3 (Sunday) marked the day of my first Neupogen injection.  Since I had Nurse Kate on the scene, we decided she would do the first few in the back of my left arm -- a spot I would be unable to reach on my own while rotating injection sites.  It wasn't bad at all!  Mind you, someone else was in control of the needle and when it entered my body -- not me!

LESSON:

If you're somewhat of a caffeine addict, like me, start cutting back on caffeine a few days before chemo.  If you're nauseated, it will likely be the last thing you want, and then you'll develop this lovely caffeine-withdrawal headache on top of all the other side effects you're suffering from.

That evening, I started to develop aches and pains across my shoulders and up my neck.  This, piled on top of the nausea, was just too much to handle!  My sister, Maureen, called about that time and got a crying mess ... aka ME ... sobbing that I couldn't do this 7 more times over and I was walking away from the whole process!!  I got myself so worked up, that I started getting that over-salivating again and ran for the toilet, phone in hand.  Maureen (a remarkable nurse) talked me through it, got me to deep breathe, and I avoided another visit with the big white bowl.

The nausea gradually got better.  I was able to go for a short walk on Day 4, and back to fairly normal eating and drinking by Day 5-6.

I would be complaining heavily at my next oncologist visit that something had to be done because I couldn't live through days like that 7 more times!

PS:  Kate says people love pictures in blog posts, but I thought it best to leave the events of these days unphotographed :) :)