Chemo yesterday ...

I received my chemo yesterday afternoon. Thanks to my husband for taking me to and picking me up from the treatment. I brought my portable DVD player ... which I mentioned before ... but I can't emphasis enough how a good movie or two takes your mind away from what is happening to you. I totally zone out and don't even feel the chemo going into me. I look at the other people in the chemo rooms and they look like zombies ... they try and read, they try and sleep, they try and look at magazines. I know everyone is different but for me, the movie is a great distraction.

Long story short, the treatment lasted about 3.5 hours.

I came home and worked on my course ... financial accounting. I felt pretty good. For the next few days I'm on anti-nausea drugs and steroids. The steroids make you hyper while you are on them but they have a withdrawal that is tough. I asked the oncologist if we could cut back on the steroids and she said ... no. Without the steroids, the chemo could have some side effects that could be detrimental to my health.

Today I feel really good. Last month I created a detailed spreadsheet to track my symptoms ... things like, mood, energy level, constipation, insomnia, headaches, muscle and joint aches, plus about 11 other symptoms. I feel this empowers me because I know exactly what to expect and when to expect it. I realize now that there are only 2 terrible days and nights in the 21 day cycle. There are about 3 or 4 more days where I am quite tired. The remainder of the days are pretty good. I don't work right now so I lay down when I need to and make sure I don't get too tired. Usually there are few days that I end up sleeping during the day just to catch up on the fatigue.

One thing I'd like to remind myself and others who read this is that I am writing this when I'm hyped on steroids and one of the side effects is that I feel like I can do anything. For example, at the first cycle, the nurse reminded me that while you are on the steroids, you may feel like you could clean the whole house. She suggested I not do that. I know that I have had the feeling and end up doing more house work than normal. I'm on the steroids for 3 more days.

This afternoon I go to a support group at the Cross Cancer. I enjoy connecting with others going through what I am going through.