AC Chemo #3 - Week 1

Three down.  One more of these Adriamycin/Cytoxan chemo sessions to go.  For real, just looking at this photo makes me want to puke.  Not surprising, because for the next several days, these were my thoughts:

THU:  Don't puke.  

FRI: Don't puke.

SAT: Don't puke. (I puked.)

SUN:  Just hold your head up.  (Thankfully, didn't feel so pukey).  But even that was pretty hard.

Basically, for three straight days I needed to be laying flat and felt best if I was sleeping.  Otherwise I felt nauseaus and weak and awful.  Hard candies (lemon drops & Halls Breezers) helped temporarily.  The anti-nausea tablets I have are supposed to be dissolved on your toungue, and they made me gag.   I had a terrible time trying to drink enough water...and am still struggling with that, even today.  But mostly, I just wanted and needed to sleep it all off.  

The good news is that my head didn't hurt so bad this round, so I was able to watch television between sleeps, which is truly the first time I've had any interest in TV in months!  

By Monday, I could move around the house without getting too dizzy or exhausted and didn't need a nap.  And I was ready to eat!  As soon as the nauseausness subsides, I want to eat constantly.  I seem to lose about 5 lbs in that first few days from not being able to eat very much and then quickly gain it all back the second week when I'm more active and HUNGRY.  

Ben was wonderful all weekend, and made and brought me any food I requested that I thought I could eat -- which seemd to be lots of hard boiled eggs, toast, avocados & smoked chicken tenders.  He also made me *another* corned beef brisket in the smoker--which was AMAZING!  Red meat on day 6--it's my jam.  

Tuesday, I was able to get dressed, put on make-up and all my accessories--which was a huge boost.  I'm not a fan of the genderless cancer patient look I'd been sporting for days.   

And by Tuesday night, though I was still worn down and moving slow, I felt MUCH more normal and functional.  I  was even able to drive and hang out with some friends for a couple of hours, which felt gloriously NORMAL (as normal as that can be in our COVID social distancing reality).

Today I managed a 30 minute walk and an *almost* full day of work, painting signs.  So, it's looking like the worst of round 3 is over and I'm back to the land of the living...

Huge thank you to everyone who sent me messages & check-ins this past weekend, brought us food, hung out with the kids, or dropped off flowers! Even when I'm feeling crummy and can't always respond right away, it means so much to me to know people are checking in on me and the family and gives me a little boost each time.