Tuesday, January 17, 2012

whiny post is whiny

I can't eat. I want to eat. I'm starving. But everything hurts and burns and I feel like I'm going to die just swallowing some water. Solid foods hurt. Liquids hurt. Thinking about eating hurts. No wonder cancer patients lose weight; this is insane. 

I apparently have some sort of irritation deep in my esophagus (right between my fake tits, if we're being specific) (insert your deep throat jokes here; i dare you.) and everything that goes past it burns like a motherfucking ring of fire.  I called the oncologist and she recommended Prilosec, Zantac, and Maalox, then Tums if I need them.  I'm using all those things and still not really able to eat much.  Today I managed one pancake, a tiny bowl of carrot soup, a large sweet tea, and a cup of cold coffee. Anything else I tried stopped after one bite or sip.  Tonight I got some of the "magic mouthwash" that I think is supposed to numb your mouth and throat.  We'll see if that helps at all.

Other symptoms/issues I had this week were a burning sensation in my mouth for a day or two (I woke up with a taste like I'd smoked a cigar the night before. I haven't done that since my 21st birthday...for that very disgusting reason!) I also had an upset stomach for several days - sometimes of the 'omg run so you don't shit the street' variety.  Good times. All these things are pretty common side effects, but the throat thing is the worst of it to me.

Then yesterday I fell down the stairs in my house.  God, that was painful.  I slipped right off the stair, just like I did in London, only this time without the luxury of falling on my thigh. I'm probably lucky I didn't break a vertebrae. My chiropractor was not. pleased. with me when I got adjusted today - she said it was like my back had been in a car wreck. I could have done without that physical trauma.

And so that I'm not being a complete Bitchy McWhinyPants, there's good news too. I went back to work today!  I learned new things and got some stuff done! I have a new office mate and she's so awesome. She appreciates the view of the fraternity lawn and wants to put lewd pictures on the back of our office door. I'm 100% in support of this and I have some things to contribute. There may be a certain NSFW calendar back there soon.  Just sayin.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Chemo Round 1

I got news that I'll only have to do four rounds of TC (chemo lite, in my mind) over three months!  I started on Thursday, January 5th and here's a breakdown of how the next few days went:

Day 1: IV day.  They gave me 4 bags of various pre-meds (Benadryl, anti-nausea meds, etc) then two bags of chemo drugs.  I felt kinda sleepy, but I imagine the Benadryl was responsible for that.  The first day took about 5 hours because they were behind on insurance stuff and had a lot of patients.  The actual IV part only took about 3.5 hours.  Not so bad, and next time should be even faster.  I started feeling a little loopy and weak later in the evening, but still no real symptoms other than a loss of taste and some metallic-esque tastes in my mouth.

Day 2: I'm a bit sleepy today, but I didn't sleep well last night due to the steroids they gave me for the 3 days post chemo.

Day 3: I slept pretty good last night and did a lot more than I thought I could today, including a visit to the chiropractor, brunch with some LSG friends, chilling at the yarn store, and going for a short walk.  I feel a bit like I do before I get a cold, so kind of run down, but otherwise I seem to be ok.

Day 4:  I did ok today too, for the most part. There's some mild tummy discomfort and a bit of chest and facial flushing sometimes, but both are side effects of the steroid and it will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow when those are gone - luckily I only have to deal with those for three days each round! The steroid also keeps me awake, so I may be more tired than I realize.

Day 5:  I got plenty of sleep last night and today I feel just fine!  I know some of the fatigue will be cumulative, but if this is the worst of it, I'm completely ok with the whole process.  I think the pre-meds and steroid are really helpful in preventing the major side effects and I hope they continue to go that route with me.