So one of the not-so-lovely side effects of chemo is that it can do one of two things…it can give you horrendous diarrhea OR constipation that makes you think you need to Rota-rooter your insides. This week it is the latter for me. I’ve been taking the Miralax for the last three days to no avail. It really isn’t the “miracle” they claim it to be on the bottle or in their commercials.
Friday was chemo day. I’m finding that the effects are getting longer and harder now. I used to bounce back so quickly…but now it’s drawing out and really becoming an impediment to my social life. My blood counts were down really low this week too. That was really kind of shocking to me since I felt SO GOOD going into chemo this week. I was really energetic and feeling really good on Thursday. So to be told on Friday that my blood counts were getting really close to the point where they don’t let you have the treatment…well…let’s just say I was shocked. Apparently my little bone marrow is about to call in a vacation/sick day. It’s just working really hard and is apparently getting “tired”. So now I’m on a quest to eat as much red meat and green-leafy veggies as possible. No more Taco Bueno…only good, solid, home cooked meals for the next two weeks. I’ve gotta get those counts back up so I can stay on schedule.
Speaking of schedules…my last treatment is scheduled for July 30th. Which means that I will be officially D-O-N-E by August 1st. Why is this important? I’m a goal maker, a list crosser-offer, a finish line oriented person. So being that 1 is my lucky number…I’m really bull headed about making that August 1st goal. I realize that sometimes people just need a week long break to let their bone marrow get back up to speed…but damn it…August 8th just doesn’t have the same ring to it as August 1st does. So let’s all say a little prayer for the next two weeks that my bone marrow will start to produce what it needs to keep my counts up and keep me on schedule.
Monday, May 24, 2010
"Dr. Phil" Hour
I’m beginning to realize that many people are VERY open and honest with me these days. More so than you’d think. I’m not sure if it’s because they think I can keep a secret OR if it’s because having cancer makes you easier to talk to…or maybe I just ask questions and don’t really care if they seem too personal these days or not. (I blame all verbal indiscretions on the Chemo.)
Random people sitting next to me in chemo will divulge all sorts of personal information and stories. I’m also learning that sitting with my friends for 4-5 hours allows them the opportunity to share all sorts of personal stories and sentiments. Not that ANY of those personal stories will be divulged here. Your secrets are safe with me girls!
So for anyone who needs a good couple of hours to regale me with horror stories of your mother-in-law, or vent about how your husband doesn’t know how to start the clothes washer…just let me know. I’d be happy to adjust my chemo-schedule to accommodate you. HA! And in turn I will ask that you bring me some Starbucks and quite possibly a cupcake or some strawberries.
“Thank you” to my old roomie, Brooke, this week for keeping me company, bringing my FAVORITE cupcakes from Merritt’s bakery in Tulsa, and entertaining me with “Avatar”. And thanks to my other old roomie, Melanie, for sitting with me for the remainder of my extra long day on Friday and dealing with me when I got a little weepy. It’s hard to know when the “weepy” is going to rear its ugly head.
You girls make those sessions WAY more fun than they probably should be. I’m pretty sure our conversations keep the nurses in stitches!
Random people sitting next to me in chemo will divulge all sorts of personal information and stories. I’m also learning that sitting with my friends for 4-5 hours allows them the opportunity to share all sorts of personal stories and sentiments. Not that ANY of those personal stories will be divulged here. Your secrets are safe with me girls!
So for anyone who needs a good couple of hours to regale me with horror stories of your mother-in-law, or vent about how your husband doesn’t know how to start the clothes washer…just let me know. I’d be happy to adjust my chemo-schedule to accommodate you. HA! And in turn I will ask that you bring me some Starbucks and quite possibly a cupcake or some strawberries.
“Thank you” to my old roomie, Brooke, this week for keeping me company, bringing my FAVORITE cupcakes from Merritt’s bakery in Tulsa, and entertaining me with “Avatar”. And thanks to my other old roomie, Melanie, for sitting with me for the remainder of my extra long day on Friday and dealing with me when I got a little weepy. It’s hard to know when the “weepy” is going to rear its ugly head.
You girls make those sessions WAY more fun than they probably should be. I’m pretty sure our conversations keep the nurses in stitches!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Saline...ick!
So since today is a rather grey and otherwise yucky day I thought I’d talk about a yucky topic…saline. Ahh yes…saline my nemesis. “What’s wrong with saline” you ask, “isn’t it just salt water?”
Yes. It is just salt water…which I normally am a fan of. I use salt water to gargle with when I have a cold. I’m quite fond of the salt water that you find at the beach. I like salt water fish. I even like salt water taffy. However, the kind of “salt water” saline that they pump directly into your veins via an IV, port, or other mode of entry, tastes like garlic. It actually tastes like nasty, been sitting in a tin can for four months, starting to go bad garlic.
It’s usually not so bad if they are just flushing your port with a few CC’s of the stuff. But when your port won’t allow them to draw blood from it they apparently have to use 6-8 syringes full of the nasty stuff to flush it. So you go from tasting garlic at 7:45 in the morning for just a few moments…to tasting it for several minutes. N-A-S-T-Y. Seriously nasty.
So what do you do for that? I have found that chewing cinnamon gum works best. Don’t bother with minty gum. It doesn’t work. What you really need is the tongue-numbing over powering cinnamon gum. I’m a fan of Trident. It numbs your tongue up real nice.
I’ve also found that coffee works good. You need something with a good, strong, flavor. Don’t worry about the smell…you don’t smell garlic you just taste it since it’s going directly into your veins. A good stout cup of Starbucks coffee works wonders.
Do not make the mistake though, of thinking that a Chai Latte from Starbucks will work by combining the cinnamon flavor with a beverage. That doesn’t work and really just propels you directly into the nausea realm.
Actually…just blogging about this is making me nauseated. Ewww….
Yes. It is just salt water…which I normally am a fan of. I use salt water to gargle with when I have a cold. I’m quite fond of the salt water that you find at the beach. I like salt water fish. I even like salt water taffy. However, the kind of “salt water” saline that they pump directly into your veins via an IV, port, or other mode of entry, tastes like garlic. It actually tastes like nasty, been sitting in a tin can for four months, starting to go bad garlic.
It’s usually not so bad if they are just flushing your port with a few CC’s of the stuff. But when your port won’t allow them to draw blood from it they apparently have to use 6-8 syringes full of the nasty stuff to flush it. So you go from tasting garlic at 7:45 in the morning for just a few moments…to tasting it for several minutes. N-A-S-T-Y. Seriously nasty.
So what do you do for that? I have found that chewing cinnamon gum works best. Don’t bother with minty gum. It doesn’t work. What you really need is the tongue-numbing over powering cinnamon gum. I’m a fan of Trident. It numbs your tongue up real nice.
I’ve also found that coffee works good. You need something with a good, strong, flavor. Don’t worry about the smell…you don’t smell garlic you just taste it since it’s going directly into your veins. A good stout cup of Starbucks coffee works wonders.
Do not make the mistake though, of thinking that a Chai Latte from Starbucks will work by combining the cinnamon flavor with a beverage. That doesn’t work and really just propels you directly into the nausea realm.
Actually…just blogging about this is making me nauseated. Ewww….
Monday, May 10, 2010
WARNING: Guys proceed at your own risk!
So this week I’m realizing what really sucks about chemo. About a month ago I touted the “joys” of chemo and among the “joys” was the fact that I had managed to lose and keep of about 15 pounds. Well that was so…until I realized that food actually staves off nausea. Yes…it’s an oxymoron. But truly the more you eat the less nauseated you are. The unfortunate side effect of that is…unless you are majorly active you’re going to gain weight. And since I have the energy of a sloth these days…well…let’s just say all those extra animal crackers, pears, cheese-its, etc that have been my heroes in my fight against nausea have now taken up residence around my bra. For the first time in my life…I have bra fat. Yes ladies…it’s true. It’s true and disgusting!
One day your clothes are all fitting loose and you’re almost back into your skinny jeans and the next thing you know…you’ve gained all that weight back and you now have fat in places that only “fat people” have fat. It’s totally grossing me out. I cannot believe this. The MINUTE I’m finished with the chemo…HELLO SlimFast! No joke.
Another thing that happened this week is apparently my ovaries and uterus decided to take a vacation. The nurses said that chemo could quite possibly cause me to not have periods while I’m on it. And in the beginning the thought of that sounded LOVELY! But then as I progressed through the chemo…I kind of considered my period as my body’s little personal “F-YOU!” to cancer and chemo. I thought that if I was still having a period then at least that part of my body was still normal and working. Well…not this month. Bon Voyage ovaries and uterus! I hope you guys have a nice little hibernation/vacation! Enjoy your time off. Hope to see you again at the end of summer!
But all of this is really nothing compared to my chair neighbor this week at chemo.
You know it’s going to be an interesting day when the old lady next to you requires a valium just to get chemo. I have no idea what sort of cancer she had but apparently it was her first day of chemo and she hadn’t been through the “Chemo Class” yet. She was probably 78 years old and her son looked to be in his late 50s. That being said, about half way through her treatment I guess the valium kicked in, because all of a sudden she sat up, became very alert and started chatting my friend Leslie up. Oh they talked about the biscuits and gravy that it took her son 2 hours to NOT find (he came in with a cheese burger instead). They talked about the joys of Florida and how beautiful that state is. And then it got really interesting when we began to get a full oration on the pros of alligator and alligator stuffing. I mean…apparently you’ve never had stuffing until you’ve had alligator stuffing. FAR better it is, than say your regular run of the mill turkey stuffing or chicken stuffing. The only thing that comes close to alligator stuffing is buffalo stuffing.
Now when buffalo stuffing became the topic of conversation I could tell that chair neighbor might not really be all together. She was drifting in and out and not really able to finish any kind of full on thought. Then chair neighbor’s poor son made the mistake of bringing her a Sprite Zero. Now the minute that juicy freshness was cracked open you would have thought that there is nothing in the world better than that. It was as if chair neighbor had just crawled through the Mojave Desert and had found an oasis of wine.
Two minutes later all hell broke loose as chair neighbor began to think that Sprite Zero has caffeine in it. We tried to explain to her that the front of the can said “caffeine free”, but she was having none of that. There was indeed caffeine in her Sprite Zero and poor son was going to pay the price!
I told Leslie that she certainly picked the most entertaining day to join me. In the 6 times I’ve been there now…I’ve NEVER seen so many elderly people there nor have I had quite as entertaining a chair neighbor as I had this week. It was madness. I find that the nurses seem to have to do a lot more work and hopping around for the geriatric patients. Us young bucks can get up and go to the bathroom on our own…thank you very much!
So the upside to chemo this week (because you know I always have to find an “up side”) is that it was my official half way mark. WOO-fricking-HOO!!!! I am down six and have six to go. I can’t say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel yet…but I will say that just knowing it’s there is making a HUGE difference. Well that and apparently being the Chaka Khan of chemo. Everyone said my hair would fall out and I’d probably need a wig. Well…take THAT “everyone”! My hair has been thinning but in the world of cancer…I look like Chaka Khan. And if you don’t know who that is for the visual…check out her web site for a full attack of her glorious hair/weave! http://www.chakakhan.com/
One day your clothes are all fitting loose and you’re almost back into your skinny jeans and the next thing you know…you’ve gained all that weight back and you now have fat in places that only “fat people” have fat. It’s totally grossing me out. I cannot believe this. The MINUTE I’m finished with the chemo…HELLO SlimFast! No joke.
Another thing that happened this week is apparently my ovaries and uterus decided to take a vacation. The nurses said that chemo could quite possibly cause me to not have periods while I’m on it. And in the beginning the thought of that sounded LOVELY! But then as I progressed through the chemo…I kind of considered my period as my body’s little personal “F-YOU!” to cancer and chemo. I thought that if I was still having a period then at least that part of my body was still normal and working. Well…not this month. Bon Voyage ovaries and uterus! I hope you guys have a nice little hibernation/vacation! Enjoy your time off. Hope to see you again at the end of summer!
But all of this is really nothing compared to my chair neighbor this week at chemo.
You know it’s going to be an interesting day when the old lady next to you requires a valium just to get chemo. I have no idea what sort of cancer she had but apparently it was her first day of chemo and she hadn’t been through the “Chemo Class” yet. She was probably 78 years old and her son looked to be in his late 50s. That being said, about half way through her treatment I guess the valium kicked in, because all of a sudden she sat up, became very alert and started chatting my friend Leslie up. Oh they talked about the biscuits and gravy that it took her son 2 hours to NOT find (he came in with a cheese burger instead). They talked about the joys of Florida and how beautiful that state is. And then it got really interesting when we began to get a full oration on the pros of alligator and alligator stuffing. I mean…apparently you’ve never had stuffing until you’ve had alligator stuffing. FAR better it is, than say your regular run of the mill turkey stuffing or chicken stuffing. The only thing that comes close to alligator stuffing is buffalo stuffing.
Now when buffalo stuffing became the topic of conversation I could tell that chair neighbor might not really be all together. She was drifting in and out and not really able to finish any kind of full on thought. Then chair neighbor’s poor son made the mistake of bringing her a Sprite Zero. Now the minute that juicy freshness was cracked open you would have thought that there is nothing in the world better than that. It was as if chair neighbor had just crawled through the Mojave Desert and had found an oasis of wine.
Two minutes later all hell broke loose as chair neighbor began to think that Sprite Zero has caffeine in it. We tried to explain to her that the front of the can said “caffeine free”, but she was having none of that. There was indeed caffeine in her Sprite Zero and poor son was going to pay the price!
I told Leslie that she certainly picked the most entertaining day to join me. In the 6 times I’ve been there now…I’ve NEVER seen so many elderly people there nor have I had quite as entertaining a chair neighbor as I had this week. It was madness. I find that the nurses seem to have to do a lot more work and hopping around for the geriatric patients. Us young bucks can get up and go to the bathroom on our own…thank you very much!
So the upside to chemo this week (because you know I always have to find an “up side”) is that it was my official half way mark. WOO-fricking-HOO!!!! I am down six and have six to go. I can’t say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel yet…but I will say that just knowing it’s there is making a HUGE difference. Well that and apparently being the Chaka Khan of chemo. Everyone said my hair would fall out and I’d probably need a wig. Well…take THAT “everyone”! My hair has been thinning but in the world of cancer…I look like Chaka Khan. And if you don’t know who that is for the visual…check out her web site for a full attack of her glorious hair/weave! http://www.chakakhan.com/
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