i am now 4 days past my chemo day, and it has taken me this long to feel human enough to write. Really I haven't felt like I was on my deathbed or anything, but still a pretty good amount of weird shit. The day of chemo I really felt pretty normal. When I went to bed, I noticed that I had some weird breathing issue. I could breathe, but my lungs just felt....unhappy? I slept on a pile of pillows and that seemed to help. Well, except that I woke up REALLY early :( But, when I got up on Thursday, I was feeling pretty good.
Got the kids to school then went with my mom to order my wig. I did notice while doing my makeup that my skin was RED. It looked like i had a sunburn on my cheeks, arms, and chest. I was also really hot- my guess is that it was the steroids causing that. Other than the red thing though, things were still going well. I ordered the wig and also found another possible wig that looked pretty cute- Need to check the other wig shop for that though because the one in the hospital is just too expensive. My mom and I went out for lunch, I didn't eat a ton, as I just didn't feel super hungry, but I was soooo thirsty. I had probably consumed a gallon of liquids by lunch!! After lunch we stopped at trader joes for some protein powder, then home. By that time, I met up with Jim and had to go get my neulasta shot. Luckily I didn't have to go all the way back to downtown- they let me come in to their office at the hospital near our house. I was just there for a shot, so I didn't really expect any drama. They sat me down and took my blood pressure. I apparently failed. 90/56 isn't the number they were looking for (picky, picky!) The nurse acts all nervous and asks the other nurse what to do...probably wondering whether to try again or get a body bag since I was almost dead! Really 90 is low, even for me but often it is at 100, and the week before it was 93...the nurses were worried that I might need a bag of fluids though- but trust me, fluids were NOT something I needed! Remember the gallon of fluids already consumed today? Anymore fluids right then, and I might just pop! I finally convinced then that I was feeling fine, so they gave me my shot. Then I had to sit around for 15 minutes make sure I didnt have a reaction. Then it was home for the rest of the day. I was starting to get pretty tired!
Overnight there was one slight moment that I thought I might feel nauseaus- so I got out of bed and took a pill real quick (in addition to the meds they gave me to take regardless, just to stay on top of it) Then I went to bed and that was the only hint of sickness that I had! YEAH!!!! I was still having occasional bouts of lung issues and I know this is TERRIBLE, but I didn't call the doctor. I knew that they would either up my steroids or make me take them longer and frankly I just couldn't bear it. I made sure I could breathe and that my airways didn't seem to be blocked- and I told Jim to keep an eye on me, but that was it. I just couldn't do more steroids. Those weird pills wont let me sleep, and I need sleep!
Friday things were still pretty good, but I was certainly getting tired. Then Saturday- yep, Saturday was THE day. I woke up with this weird stiffness in my upper body and my skin was actually painful to touch. And I was so, so, SO tired. I think I slept most of the day.
Sunday was much better but then Ethan woke up sick. Are you freaking kidding me?? I can not have sick people in the house! He was good about hand washing though, thank goodness- and so far I seem to have not gotten his cold. I still lounged most of the day- and it was 2 solid days at that point, of wearing my pjs. Finally though, I decided that Ethan needed his haircut. I announced to him that I was going to get dressed and we were going to leave the house, so he needed to get ready. He actually told me- yea, Right, you are SO not getting dressed. LMAO!!! He then went upstairs and ignored me because he totally didn't believe I had it in me to get ready. I did though and he was so shocked! It did feel good to get out of the house!
I am very happy that chemo doesn't seem soooo terrible.
During chemo I always felt like I was out of breath. It turned out it wasn't my lungs, it was just that I had less red blood cells to carry the oxygen. Just try to take it as easy as you can. The chemo can cause skin issues, too.
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