What was chemo like for me?
I spent a few months having chemo? doing chemo? on chemo? I don't know what the right way to say this is.
I find myself unable to talk much about this topic, it feels like when someone tells you a bad story and you just dont want to hear it, when I go to write about this I get that same feeling. I would talk about it except I dont want to. I'm usually happy to talk about it with friends if they have questions, but I dont want to go searching memories and documentation for the details because I simply dont want to remember.
That being said.. I'm trying anyway
My cycle was four weeks long and i had like 7 or 9 cycles or something like that.
Honestly considering all the documentation on side effects and other patient stories I thought I would be in for a rough ride, but I was very lucky that my symptoms were mild. I mostly came away with extreme fatigue, bone pain(most especially lower back), light headedness, mild nausea which may have been because I was on epic anti nausea drugs, chest pain. and it only took two weeks before hair loss started happening, so I shaved my head, my housemate Billy shaved his head with me in solidarity.
I find myself unable to talk much about this topic, it feels like when someone tells you a bad story and you just dont want to hear it, when I go to write about this I get that same feeling. I would talk about it except I dont want to. I'm usually happy to talk about it with friends if they have questions, but I dont want to go searching memories and documentation for the details because I simply dont want to remember.
That being said.. I'm trying anyway
My cycle was four weeks long and i had like 7 or 9 cycles or something like that.
- Week 1 all day Monday then nothing
- Week 2 Recovery
- Week 3 Mornings Monday to Friday
- Week 4 Recovery
 |
| Ian, Sam, and myself on one of the first if not the first day of chemo |
 |
| Billy(right) and I(left) |
What I'm glad I didnt get was mouth sores, that would suck big time.
I was working at the time, but it quickly became apparent that doing both was untenable. So I quit my job, but before that happened I managed to describe my symptoms to my female co-workers and they said it sounded like I was pregnant.
I was working at the time, but it quickly became apparent that doing both was untenable. So I quit my job, but before that happened I managed to describe my symptoms to my female co-workers and they said it sounded like I was pregnant.
After I quit I lay on the couch for days at a time in my off time, the days would just pass by and I would just lay there in an exhausted stupor. The house cat always sat nearby for company when my friends were at work. My brain stopped working so I couldnt do anything productive but I was too tired to care.
All the staff at the Royal Adelaide Hospital were always friendly and helpful, I think they enjoyed having someone who wasnt taking their mortality too seriously.
 |
| feeling like crap after chemo. |
Getting stabbed in the arm every day really does suck, and instead of getting used to it you tolerate it less and less, I have a friend who's husband died of lung cancer(unrelated to smoking) suggest I get an infuser port, which I had inserted about three months into treatment and that made life a lot easier.
Incessant beeping of the medical pumps will drive you insane if you let it, and you have to try to sleep through it when in hospital. I swear I will have a reaction if I ever hear that exact pitch of beeping again.
I spent a few months doing that before I had to go in for surgury, when I got out I still had a couple of months of chemo to complete. But after all the exhaustion from the first time I was determined to stay active during the second lot, and it helped with the fatigue a great deal.
I remember I would go to the wednesday night salsa dancing venue in town and refuse to dance with anyone unfamiliar because I was really fragile. The few people I would dance with knew that I had about 30 seconds in me before fatigue took over and I would need to rest. I made good use of the time.
There was one time I wanted to walk to the service station for something, it was about one block away, by the time I got there I was slowly blacking out, and had to sit on the floor to maintain consciousness to wait for my housemate Nick to rescue me.
I shed all of my calloused skin for some reason, perhaps it was the inactivity, but my hands and feet became really soft, something I was not overy happy with because I knew that eventually I would need to use them again.
below are some posts of my friends and I during the treatment period just being our goofy selves. Some of these people without whom I would not have survived.
I have skipped a few pics related to surgury for another post.
 |
| Attached to the beeping machine |
I spent a few months doing that before I had to go in for surgury, when I got out I still had a couple of months of chemo to complete. But after all the exhaustion from the first time I was determined to stay active during the second lot, and it helped with the fatigue a great deal.
I remember I would go to the wednesday night salsa dancing venue in town and refuse to dance with anyone unfamiliar because I was really fragile. The few people I would dance with knew that I had about 30 seconds in me before fatigue took over and I would need to rest. I made good use of the time.
 |
| Sama, myself and Annie at Salsa Wednesday @ Casablabla |
I shed all of my calloused skin for some reason, perhaps it was the inactivity, but my hands and feet became really soft, something I was not overy happy with because I knew that eventually I would need to use them again.
below are some posts of my friends and I during the treatment period just being our goofy selves. Some of these people without whom I would not have survived.
I have skipped a few pics related to surgury for another post.
Comments
Post a Comment