I had my blood drawn yesterday morning and the results are in. Everything looks good, all my counts are right where they want them. I guess I better start packing. My flight takes off at 5:50 for Chicago. My mother is going with me this time instead of Bob. With all the kids we thought it would just be simpler if he stayed home with them to keep things as normal as possible. So here's hoping I don't get lost in the airport, and that it's easier than navigating my way out of a parking garage. Those things are tricky...
I'll update when I return.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
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The picture to the right is a picture of the hair I lost in one day, just from today. If you can't tell from the picture, it's a pretty significant amount. But even with all the hair I lost, I still had a lot on my head. My hair still looked good. But after yesterday, feeling so down, I sat and really thought. I came to the realization that I am not who I am because of my hair. And if I lose my hair, or my breasts, or my arms, or my legs, it wouldn't change who I am. It might change how I function, but it doesn't have to change me. I always try to set a good example for my children. What would I be saying to them, without saying it, by letting something as stupid as hair dictate how I feel. It isn't what we look like on the outside, it's who we are on the inside that counts, isn't this what we are always saying to our children. Here was my chance to prove it.
So with Bob, the four younger kids, my two sisters, mother, and best friend with me for moral support I did it. I put my hair in four ponytails and had each kid cut one off. Once that was all done I had each one of them take turns with the clippers. Then my one sister finished cutting it while the other continued to take pictures for me. Yes, I wanted pictures of the whole thing. And when it was all done I actually felt better. Strange, right? But I did. No more hair to wrestle with in the shower, or pull off my clothing, or untangle from my hands after touching my head. And my little Aiden wanted to show his support for his mommy, so we buzzed his head, too.
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| Aiden and me after our hair cuts |
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Blah, Blah, Blah
That is exactly how I feel. It's been a rough few days. Between the medicine they have me on to increase my white blood cell count and the constant shedding of my hair it has taken a toll on me mentally.
Bob has been giving me my daily injections of neupogen. I got the fifth and final shot last night. Now that I'm done I hope to start feeling better quickly. It really is a very close second to the chemo in terms of how badly it makes me feel. It has made me so tired that I'm asleep more than I'm awake. I have such a horrible headache when I wake up in the mornings it hurts to even open my eyes. Most of the pain is right behind my eye sockets. My legs hurt so badly that when I walk down the steps it feels as though they may snap in half, although I know that they won't. And let's not forget about the nausea. So pray that this medicine has done what it was intended to do, increase my white blood cell count, and that I'll be able to get treatment on Friday, not that that's what I want either.
That's probably another reason for the mental funk I've been in. On top of being in physical pain, I've been trying to prepare myself mentally for another round of chemo. This is when I just want to throw myself on the floor, kick and scream, and kick some more until somebody gives into to me and says "alright, already, you don't have to have another treatment, just be quiet!!!", but there is no such person. And throwing temper tantrums isn't going to help me. I have no choice but to pick myself back up (mentally) and keep moving forward. So I'll follow the advice my brother gave me, be brave. Even though it's really the last thing I feel like being.
And since there is nothing like being kicked when you're already down, my hair continues to fall out everyday. I was excited when I made it past the 14th day and still had my hair, and in some strange way I do feel some sense of satisfaction that it has made it this long. Today is day 22 since my first chemo treatment. If I had stayed with my Pittsburgh doctors treatment #2 would have been yesterday. The significance of that? They told me I wouldn't have any hair left by the time of my second treatment. And I do. It is thinner of course, but not patchy, so I still haven't committed to shaving it just yet. Why wait? Maybe because part of me still can't accept this as reality. Maybe because somewhere in the back of my mind I think I have some small chance that it will stop falling out and I can avoid shaving it. Really, I have no idea why I'm waiting. I guess simply because I'm just not ready yet.
Bob has been giving me my daily injections of neupogen. I got the fifth and final shot last night. Now that I'm done I hope to start feeling better quickly. It really is a very close second to the chemo in terms of how badly it makes me feel. It has made me so tired that I'm asleep more than I'm awake. I have such a horrible headache when I wake up in the mornings it hurts to even open my eyes. Most of the pain is right behind my eye sockets. My legs hurt so badly that when I walk down the steps it feels as though they may snap in half, although I know that they won't. And let's not forget about the nausea. So pray that this medicine has done what it was intended to do, increase my white blood cell count, and that I'll be able to get treatment on Friday, not that that's what I want either.
That's probably another reason for the mental funk I've been in. On top of being in physical pain, I've been trying to prepare myself mentally for another round of chemo. This is when I just want to throw myself on the floor, kick and scream, and kick some more until somebody gives into to me and says "alright, already, you don't have to have another treatment, just be quiet!!!", but there is no such person. And throwing temper tantrums isn't going to help me. I have no choice but to pick myself back up (mentally) and keep moving forward. So I'll follow the advice my brother gave me, be brave. Even though it's really the last thing I feel like being.
And since there is nothing like being kicked when you're already down, my hair continues to fall out everyday. I was excited when I made it past the 14th day and still had my hair, and in some strange way I do feel some sense of satisfaction that it has made it this long. Today is day 22 since my first chemo treatment. If I had stayed with my Pittsburgh doctors treatment #2 would have been yesterday. The significance of that? They told me I wouldn't have any hair left by the time of my second treatment. And I do. It is thinner of course, but not patchy, so I still haven't committed to shaving it just yet. Why wait? Maybe because part of me still can't accept this as reality. Maybe because somewhere in the back of my mind I think I have some small chance that it will stop falling out and I can avoid shaving it. Really, I have no idea why I'm waiting. I guess simply because I'm just not ready yet.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Sleep, Sleep, and More Sleep
I've never been one who needed much sleep. If I got 5 or 6 hours that was plenty for me to feel rested and be completely functional. But this injection of neupogen they have me on to increase my white blood cells has me wiped out!! I'm sleeping 12-14 hours at a time. In a 24 hour period, I slept 18 of them. I woke up around 12:30 today, Bob made me something to eat and now I'm ready to go back to sleep, which is exactly what I am going to do.
Friday, March 22, 2013
CTCA Day 2-part two
Yesterday's post was a quick overview of how my day went. I'll describe it in more detail now that I am feeling better.
We arrived at the hospital early yesterday( Thursday) morning to again eat breakfast before another long day. I was to have an appointment with the oncologist, naturopath, nutritionist, and nurse navigator. My first appointment was scheduled for 8:45 with the oncologist.
We entered the exam room after waiting just a few short minutes. The nurse did her usual thing, temperature, blood pressure, asked a few questions, and exited the room. The doctor, who spoke with a Scottish accent, entered shortly after the nurse had left.
He was an older gentleman. He was very knowledgeable and took a lot of time explaining my situation to me in depth. And I asked lots of questions, so many he asked what I did for a living because he thought I had a medical background. I just laughed and smiled. I thought to myself, no it's called google and my natural curiosity of wanting to know the answers to why and how. Anyway, he had a new plan, unfortunately one that still involved chemo.
The plan when I was seeing the doctors in Pittsburgh was a total of 8 rounds of chemo therapy, 4 of a combination of adriamycin (nicknamed the RED DEVIL) and cytoxin, and 4 of another called taxotere. The rounds would be given 3 weeks apart which meant I would be done in July. The new plan, his plan, was 4 rounds of chemo total, so just 3 more. He said he wouldn't have given me the kind that the Pittsburgh doctors had given me, calling it old fashioned. But since I had already had it, he would give me one more round of that, then 2 rounds of another combination, a combination with less side effects, both immediate and long term. I was relieved, but just slightly. I really, really, really don't want chemo at all, but who does.
There is good news. Based on the physical exam the lump has decreased in size significantly. It was originally 1 and 1/2 centimeters according to the sonogram back in the early part of February. It is now less than 1 centimeter.
The doctor was also aware of our situation from the previous day when everything had basically gone wrong. He actually already had a full schedule but when our nurse navigator told him what had happened, he had agreed to see me. He added that we never should have been brought out to Chicago this week and that he would personally speak to administration about paying for our next trip, both the flight and hotel.
He went over my lab results with me as well. My white blood cell count is only 170, which apparently is very low, so chemo therapy isn't possible at this time, which is fine by me. I really need time to mentally prepare for the next round anyway. As I had mentioned in my last post, they gave me an injection of neupogen at the hospital. I will need to continue it for 4 days at home by self injecting. I have several nurses in my family, so this really won't be an issue. I'll just have one of them do it for me. This should increase my white blood cell count enough over the next week that I will be able to return for a treatment next Friday. I will just need to have my blood drawn in Pittsburgh two days prior to my trip to make sure.
Of course no medicine comes without side effects. One of the side effects of neupogen is bone pain and fever. What I experienced yesterday was the same kind of achy feeling you have when you have the flu, expect a large majority of the pain seemed to settle in my lower back making it feel more like back labor. Bob was able to buy some advil at the front desk of the hotel which helped enough that I was just able to go to sleep.
Going back to the rest of my day and the rest of my appointments, I really don't have much to say about it. I found that both the naturopath and the nutritionist only had basic knowledge. Some of what I am already doing went above what they knew. I'm sure for a lot of people they would have been helpful, but they weren't for me, which was kind of disappointing. Both of them were very young and inexperienced, which may have been part of it.
The only other thing of any significance was that I had my blood drawn for the genetic testing I had mentioned before. The test is to determine whether I have the gene for breast c*****. They like to do this test when you are diagnosed under 5o years of age. There is only about a 5% chance that I do have the gene and if I do I would have to consider the possibility of a double mastectomy or possibly going through this again in the future. And since I never what to do this again, the choice would be very clear for me.
I almost forgot. We had the opportunity to speak with patient relations yesterday, as well. They will be pulling the tapes from our conversations with their intake specialist, Mark, who gave us all the misguiding information. A lot of what he told us was incorrect and he seemed to be playing into what we wanted to hear. Now, I'm not too terribly upset because I would rather do this plan than the other one, but it's still wrong to mislead people. And the lady we spoke to also assured us that our next trip out here would be covered just as if it were our first.
So that about sums up our second day. The rest of our time at the hospital yesterday was spent going between departments getting everything scheduled for our flight home later today and appointments and flights scheduled for next week. And while it wasn't everything I had hoped for it is better than what I had. Continue to pray for me, it's still a long road ahead to travel.
We arrived at the hospital early yesterday( Thursday) morning to again eat breakfast before another long day. I was to have an appointment with the oncologist, naturopath, nutritionist, and nurse navigator. My first appointment was scheduled for 8:45 with the oncologist.
We entered the exam room after waiting just a few short minutes. The nurse did her usual thing, temperature, blood pressure, asked a few questions, and exited the room. The doctor, who spoke with a Scottish accent, entered shortly after the nurse had left.
He was an older gentleman. He was very knowledgeable and took a lot of time explaining my situation to me in depth. And I asked lots of questions, so many he asked what I did for a living because he thought I had a medical background. I just laughed and smiled. I thought to myself, no it's called google and my natural curiosity of wanting to know the answers to why and how. Anyway, he had a new plan, unfortunately one that still involved chemo.
The plan when I was seeing the doctors in Pittsburgh was a total of 8 rounds of chemo therapy, 4 of a combination of adriamycin (nicknamed the RED DEVIL) and cytoxin, and 4 of another called taxotere. The rounds would be given 3 weeks apart which meant I would be done in July. The new plan, his plan, was 4 rounds of chemo total, so just 3 more. He said he wouldn't have given me the kind that the Pittsburgh doctors had given me, calling it old fashioned. But since I had already had it, he would give me one more round of that, then 2 rounds of another combination, a combination with less side effects, both immediate and long term. I was relieved, but just slightly. I really, really, really don't want chemo at all, but who does.
There is good news. Based on the physical exam the lump has decreased in size significantly. It was originally 1 and 1/2 centimeters according to the sonogram back in the early part of February. It is now less than 1 centimeter.
The doctor was also aware of our situation from the previous day when everything had basically gone wrong. He actually already had a full schedule but when our nurse navigator told him what had happened, he had agreed to see me. He added that we never should have been brought out to Chicago this week and that he would personally speak to administration about paying for our next trip, both the flight and hotel.
He went over my lab results with me as well. My white blood cell count is only 170, which apparently is very low, so chemo therapy isn't possible at this time, which is fine by me. I really need time to mentally prepare for the next round anyway. As I had mentioned in my last post, they gave me an injection of neupogen at the hospital. I will need to continue it for 4 days at home by self injecting. I have several nurses in my family, so this really won't be an issue. I'll just have one of them do it for me. This should increase my white blood cell count enough over the next week that I will be able to return for a treatment next Friday. I will just need to have my blood drawn in Pittsburgh two days prior to my trip to make sure.
Of course no medicine comes without side effects. One of the side effects of neupogen is bone pain and fever. What I experienced yesterday was the same kind of achy feeling you have when you have the flu, expect a large majority of the pain seemed to settle in my lower back making it feel more like back labor. Bob was able to buy some advil at the front desk of the hotel which helped enough that I was just able to go to sleep.
Going back to the rest of my day and the rest of my appointments, I really don't have much to say about it. I found that both the naturopath and the nutritionist only had basic knowledge. Some of what I am already doing went above what they knew. I'm sure for a lot of people they would have been helpful, but they weren't for me, which was kind of disappointing. Both of them were very young and inexperienced, which may have been part of it.
The only other thing of any significance was that I had my blood drawn for the genetic testing I had mentioned before. The test is to determine whether I have the gene for breast c*****. They like to do this test when you are diagnosed under 5o years of age. There is only about a 5% chance that I do have the gene and if I do I would have to consider the possibility of a double mastectomy or possibly going through this again in the future. And since I never what to do this again, the choice would be very clear for me.
I almost forgot. We had the opportunity to speak with patient relations yesterday, as well. They will be pulling the tapes from our conversations with their intake specialist, Mark, who gave us all the misguiding information. A lot of what he told us was incorrect and he seemed to be playing into what we wanted to hear. Now, I'm not too terribly upset because I would rather do this plan than the other one, but it's still wrong to mislead people. And the lady we spoke to also assured us that our next trip out here would be covered just as if it were our first.
So that about sums up our second day. The rest of our time at the hospital yesterday was spent going between departments getting everything scheduled for our flight home later today and appointments and flights scheduled for next week. And while it wasn't everything I had hoped for it is better than what I had. Continue to pray for me, it's still a long road ahead to travel.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
CTCA Day 2-part one
I will go into more detail about my day later. I just wanted everyone to know that today went better than yesterday. I had an appointment with the oncologist. He does have a plan that does include chemo but slightly different than the plan the doctors in Pittsburgh had.
Sadly my hair has started thinning, not in the way they had described to me, but there is definite shedding going on. I'll wait to see if this continues before making the decision to shave it completely.
My blood count is too low to give me another chemo treatment right now. They gave me an injection of a medicine called neupogen which will increase my white blood cells. One of the side effects-bone pain. So basically I feel like I have the flu.
For now I am going to rest, I just wanted to give you the short update. I will go into more details of their plan and the rest of my day soon.
Sadly my hair has started thinning, not in the way they had described to me, but there is definite shedding going on. I'll wait to see if this continues before making the decision to shave it completely.
My blood count is too low to give me another chemo treatment right now. They gave me an injection of a medicine called neupogen which will increase my white blood cells. One of the side effects-bone pain. So basically I feel like I have the flu.
For now I am going to rest, I just wanted to give you the short update. I will go into more details of their plan and the rest of my day soon.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
CTCA Day1
To say that today was a disappointment would be an understatement. I am definitely frustrated about how my first day at the treatment center went. I'll start from the beginning of our trip to catch everyone up.
We left for the airport at 11:30 Tuesday morning, no traffic, short lines going through security, everything was good. Flight was delayed for 45 minutes but not really a big deal. I was so excited to go to Chicago I had forgotten how afraid I am to fly. It wasn't until the plane started to take off that I was reminded. Taking off and ascending is the worst part for me. After that I'm fine for the most part. I try to just pretend I'm on a train.
We arrived at the Chicago Midway airport, collected our luggage, no problems. Our instructions were to call the treatment center after going to baggage claim and they would send a limo for us. When they said limo I assumed they meant a four door sedan, but no, they actually meant a limo. So we rode from the airport to our hotel in a limo, which was about an hour and a half ride. What I didn't realize until the driver informed us was that the Radisson we are staying at is in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The treatment center makes all of the flight and hotel arrangements in case you were wondering why I didn't seem to know anything.
The hotel is about 20 minutes from the hospital. There is a shuttle, provided by the hotel, that leaves every hour for the hospital. They will even take you to local restaurants, shopping outlets, and the Walmart. You just have to choose the shuttle ahead of time to make sure it isn't filled.
There is a lovely restaurant in the hotel. It even has a gluten free menu. It's a bit on the pricey side but very convenient. We had dinner there last night after getting settled into our room.
This morning, which is Wednesday, was my first day at the treatment center. We got up at 5:30 (6:30 Pennsylvania time) and got ready so we could leave on the 6:30 shuttle. My first appointment wasn't until 8:15 but we wanted to eat breakfast at the hospital. You get $5 per person to spend for breakfast and $7 per person for each lunch and dinner. So unless your eating a whole lot you can eat for free.
First, we met with a man in registration. He walked us through all the paper work, explained the insurance ins and outs, all that happy stuff.
Then we were escorted to my next appointment by some lady. I don't remember her exact title but it's her job to get us to where we needed to be so we didn't get overwhelmed or lost on our first day there. Maybe someone called ahead and warned her that that was a very real possibility with me.
So everything was okay so far. Everyone we had met was very friendly, very helpful. I still had hope at this point. But it was only around 9:20 in the morning. So much time for things to go wrong and they did.
I was taken to an exam room where I was to wait to be seen by several people. I was scheduled to meet my patient navigator, a nurse who would take my vitals and go over my medical history, and eventually a doctor, not an oncologist but an internist for an initial exam. This was the first of my disappointments.
When I eventually met with the doctor after waiting in this small exam room for over two hours, she basically reiterated what my doctors in Pittsburgh had told me, that chemo was a must. That because my specific type was so aggressive and because I am so young that it was absolutely necessary to have chemo. At first I was very saddened by this. Then I reminded myself that she is only one doctor, not even the oncologist, and she is going off of nothing but my medical records. So I decided I wasn't going to let what she said bother me. She ordered blood work and an EKG and she went on her way. Someone came to draw my blood. Then someone else came to do an EKG. Then after a grand total of 3 and 1/2 hours in this very small room I could finally leave.
The plan was to go eat lunch and then return to the same floor to pick up a schedule that they would be working on while I was eating. This schedule would have the days I would see the nutritionist, naturopathic doctor, oncologist and a surgeon. Then after I see all of those people they sit down together and discuss a plan for me.
So I went and ate. And when I returned I waited and waited. I waited for an hour for the lady who had been working on my schedule. Keep in mind that I was originally told to plan on the initial visit being 3-5 days. Then I was told 3-5 business days which is completely different. When I looked at this schedule there was basically nothing scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, the nutritionist and naturopath were scheduled for Friday, and then the oncologist wasn't scheduled until next Thursday, over a week from now. Then she added that she wasn't able to schedule an appointment with the surgeon yet but that she hoped she could get me in for the Friday after the oncologist. REALLY?!!! She added that she wasn't sure if they would have me go home in the mean time and then fly back out or what they would want me to do. I should also mention that at some point during the day we learned that they only pay for the caregiver's plane ticket the first time out. After that they will only pay for mine. Which was not what we were originally told on the phone.
By this point I had been at the hospital for about 7 hours and had accomplished basically nothing. I had blood work and an EKG. Oh and don't forget the useless doctor that I didn't ever want to see again. I'm missing seven days of work for this trip that I won't get paid for because I have already used all my personal/sick days. Bob is self employed so every day we're here is lost money for him too. And now they are telling me that they can't even schedule me with the oncologist and surgeon till next week. So please tell me again why I'm here?
I was beyond irritated. I usually don't voice my frustration, but this was too much. I wasn't going to let this go. Bob was irate. He had decided to excuse himself from the conversation when she was going over the schedule which was probably best.
At this point she had now left to go make some phone calls to see what she could do. It was then another hour before I would see anyone again. This time my patient navigator had come out, apologizing. Bob and I both explained to her what had been told to us over the phone during that initial conversation and that none of that seemed to be true. I said I felt like it was all smoke and mirrors. And I asked if their telephone intake personnel were paid on commission. I was talking very nicely to her but it was very obvious that I was upset. She kept apologizing and told us we needed to complain to customer relations, which we will, only Bob and I both thought it would be better if he didn't talk to them that day because of how mad he was.
She agreed to keep working on the scheduling problem and eventually called me to let me know I would see an oncologist tomorrow, Thursday. It's not the same one I was originally going to see which was a breast specialist, so I'm not sure what to expect. They also changed my appointments with the naturopath and the nutritionist to tomorrow. I'm hesitant to be excited about the rest of this trip and I am really not feeling hopeful that anything good will come out of it.
I should have known that it wasn't going to be a good day when the hotel hairdryer broke while I was fixing my hair this morning...oh yeah, that's right. I forgot to mention I still have my hair. It never fell out.
I'm trying to look at this situation in a more positive way. ALL things happen for a reason. And even if I don't know what that reason is now and maybe I'll never know, I have to believe that this is what was suppose to happen.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Woo-Hoo!!
It's Tuesday morning, day 15, and I still have hair!!! Just wanted to share that with everyone. It's also the day we are leaving for Chicago to go the C***** Treatment Centers of America and I'm still not packed. We're leaving for the airport around 11:30 for our 3:00 flight. I'll update when I can. I'm sure there will be lots to share.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Hair Status
As I had mentioned in previous posts, I am due to lose my hair on day fourteen, at least this is what I've been told. I believe each chemo medicine is different when it comes to hair loss. I was given Adriamycin and Cytoxan. When combined I have a 92% chance I will lose my hair. If I count the Monday I got my first treatment as day one then today would be day 14. But if day one doesn't start until after 24 hours has passed, then tomorrow will be day 14. Since I woke up and still had hair today, then I guess tomorrow is the big day.
I actually had a dream last night about my hair falling out. It didn't seem to be traumatic in the dream. When I awoke I immediately checked my pillow to see if there was any hair on it. And nope, nothing. Then I tugged on my hair to see if it would come out. And it didn't.
The plan is to have my best friend, sisters, mother, and Bob and all the kids here when it is time to shave it. It actually would have been easier to have it happen today. It's Sunday, nobody that I was planning on having here was working. The kids were home from school. But I guess these things don't really happen at my convenience.
In addition to having to prepare myself mentally for tomorrow, I also have a lot to do for our trip to Chicago. Originally I thought we might be there for three or four days, but now it could be as many as eight. So I am trying to get myself ready to go and also get things ready around the house for the kids in our absence.
Thank you for your continued support. It really helps going through this knowing there are so many people who care.
I actually had a dream last night about my hair falling out. It didn't seem to be traumatic in the dream. When I awoke I immediately checked my pillow to see if there was any hair on it. And nope, nothing. Then I tugged on my hair to see if it would come out. And it didn't.
The plan is to have my best friend, sisters, mother, and Bob and all the kids here when it is time to shave it. It actually would have been easier to have it happen today. It's Sunday, nobody that I was planning on having here was working. The kids were home from school. But I guess these things don't really happen at my convenience.
In addition to having to prepare myself mentally for tomorrow, I also have a lot to do for our trip to Chicago. Originally I thought we might be there for three or four days, but now it could be as many as eight. So I am trying to get myself ready to go and also get things ready around the house for the kids in our absence.
Thank you for your continued support. It really helps going through this knowing there are so many people who care.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
What is chemo like?
What is chemo like? I hear this question often. I'll try to describe what my experience has been since my first treatment.
The day of the treatment wasn't too bad, physically. The whole process takes a couple of hours. I didn't feel anything strange or weird when it was going in through the IV. By the time I got home from the hospital I just wanted to nap. Even the next day wasn't too bad. I was tired but still able to function and not really that sick. Day two and three were the worst. There was nothing I could do to stop the nausea. Even the prescribed medication didn't help at that point and they have their own set of side effects. The nausea remains for the first week but not as bad.
Nausea wasn't the only reason for not eating. Food of all kinds just didn't taste right or good. Eating spicy food like I would normally do was out of the question. Everything I tried seemed to have too much flavor. I ate Gorilla Munch cereal for days afterward. And then from out of nowhere I had a strong craving for baby cakes (mini hash browns made by McCain) and cold ketchup.
After the first week is when you get tired. I felt pretty good this morning. I had energy at work all day but now it's 6:30 in the evening and I'm ready to go to bed. It's the kind of tired when you have trouble even keeping your eyes open. This is also when I am told I am most susceptible to infections and getting sick. I have to take my temperature throughout the day. If I get a temperature of 100 or above I need to go to the emergency room right away.
And my newest side effect...acne. I'm breaking out on my chest, back, and face. It's like puberty all over again.
So let me recap this for you....nausea, tiredness, foods not tasting right, strong food cravings, and acne. I was thinking about this a few days ago when I had the realization, "Oh yes, I trained during most of my 20's for this!! It's just like being pregnant (only more extreme). So I got this. I've done this 5 times before. But this time I will feel sick for one week, tired for one week, then feeling better for one week, and just when I start to feel back to normal it's time for another treatment. The cycle continues 8 times.
Oh yes, there is one other thing I didn't mention, hair loss. Hair loss takes place 14 days after my first treatment which means only 4 more days left. The countdown is on. And as much as I have tried to prepare myself for that moment I'm not sure it will help when it is actually time.
The day of the treatment wasn't too bad, physically. The whole process takes a couple of hours. I didn't feel anything strange or weird when it was going in through the IV. By the time I got home from the hospital I just wanted to nap. Even the next day wasn't too bad. I was tired but still able to function and not really that sick. Day two and three were the worst. There was nothing I could do to stop the nausea. Even the prescribed medication didn't help at that point and they have their own set of side effects. The nausea remains for the first week but not as bad.
Nausea wasn't the only reason for not eating. Food of all kinds just didn't taste right or good. Eating spicy food like I would normally do was out of the question. Everything I tried seemed to have too much flavor. I ate Gorilla Munch cereal for days afterward. And then from out of nowhere I had a strong craving for baby cakes (mini hash browns made by McCain) and cold ketchup.
After the first week is when you get tired. I felt pretty good this morning. I had energy at work all day but now it's 6:30 in the evening and I'm ready to go to bed. It's the kind of tired when you have trouble even keeping your eyes open. This is also when I am told I am most susceptible to infections and getting sick. I have to take my temperature throughout the day. If I get a temperature of 100 or above I need to go to the emergency room right away.
And my newest side effect...acne. I'm breaking out on my chest, back, and face. It's like puberty all over again.
So let me recap this for you....nausea, tiredness, foods not tasting right, strong food cravings, and acne. I was thinking about this a few days ago when I had the realization, "Oh yes, I trained during most of my 20's for this!! It's just like being pregnant (only more extreme). So I got this. I've done this 5 times before. But this time I will feel sick for one week, tired for one week, then feeling better for one week, and just when I start to feel back to normal it's time for another treatment. The cycle continues 8 times.
Oh yes, there is one other thing I didn't mention, hair loss. Hair loss takes place 14 days after my first treatment which means only 4 more days left. The countdown is on. And as much as I have tried to prepare myself for that moment I'm not sure it will help when it is actually time.
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