It’s now been a week since my first AC Chemo treatment. Overall it hasn’t been bad, but it has been different. I use the words strange and weird a lot to describe things.
I’m going to refer to my days as numbers instead of the days of the week, because that’s pretty much how symptoms and meds run. So chemo is Day 1, and if you read my previous blog, you know that was a rough day. Day 2 was much better.
The steroids and nausea meds they give me during chemo really do help. Days 3 & 4 were a lot like Day 2. Pretty good days overall. I was able to get stuff done around the house, and took a break when needed. Food still sounds good, but I’m beginning to notice that I’m not really snacky, I’m more likely to eat small amounts of leftovers. I wasn’t prepared for this, because I have always been a major snacky/grazing type person.
Day 5 started out pretty good, but I could tell my energy was starting to drop as the day went without the oral steroids. By evening, I was beat and just hung out on the couch. Day 6 however was a whole different story. I got up and took a shower, then spent the entire rest of the day on the couch. It is the hardest thing to explain. From talking to a couple people, only those who have been through chemo can relate. It wasn’t that I was tired, because I didn’t really sleep or nap. But I didn’t feel like doing or watching anything either. It was some weird world between awake and asleep. It was blah, not normal, weird. You know how you zone out and your not really in “the here and now”? That’s not even an accurate description. And I was dizzy most of the day. Slight and occasional dizziness seem to be the new normal, but way worse that day. I looked at myself in the mirror one time and I even thought I looked bad. And this is after one chemo treatment, I know it’s going to get worse. There is no way I could have functioned in a classroom on Day 6, and I’m not sure I would have made it through Day 5 either. It took a little more effort to remind myself to eat and drink those two days. I did walk outside with Brad when he got home and sat in a chair for an hour while Brad worked on stuff. Luna (my outdoor cat) and Regan (my dog) would take turns getting attention from me. Now according to me, I was sitting there, with my feet propped up part of the time on a digger, petting the animals off and on. According to Brad I couldn’t sit up and looked like I was half passed out. If he wants me to believe that, he’ll need to take a picture next time. I think he was exaggerating, and many of you know that my husband is a storyteller.
Day 7 & 8 were so much better. I never needed to lay down once. That doesn’t mean I was full of energy, but I was doing little things, sitting when needed and watching tv. I still needed to take an occasional break, and I continued to be ever so slightly dizzy now and then, but overall pretty good. Though it is strange when just taking a shower means you need a short break.
Sleep. It’s something else that has started to become very strange for me. I’m ready to go to bed and read my Bible and do a devotional, and hit the pillow by 9:30-10:00. I’m typically a late owl and a late sleeper. I never outgrew those teenage years in that aspect. But now I’m awake for a little while every night somewhere between 3:30-4:30. Then I fall back asleep. But not Friday night. I’m telling you, it was so crazy. I stayed up a little later and got to bed about 10:45. You know those people you’re so jealous of that pretty much fall asleep as soon as they go to bed? Yeah, I’m one of those people. You can hate me. It’s okay. But not Friday night. I was laying there thinking, I should be asleep by now. Why am I not asleep yet? Why am I not remotely tired? Was it the can a pop I had 10 hours earlier? (my first can in several weeks, don’t judge too harshly). Was it the carbs I ate today? Why can’t I sleep? It’s 1:00AM. I was actually impressed I laid there that long. Finally I decided to go get my tablet and watch some Netflix. So I watch my new Korean drama, The King: Eternal Monarch, reading the subtitles, keeping the story line straight between parallel dimensions and all that. I debated whether to start another episode. I decide I really do need to try to sleep. I put away the tablet and try to sleep,,, again. Eventually I fell asleep, because I woke up at 3:00, awake and ready to go. I forced myself to sleep again, but kept waking up. I figured Saturday I’ll just be tired and want to camp out on the couch all day. Nope. I was wide awake all day Saturday. It was 8:30 Saturday night before I started to get sleepy. I slept great for about 5 hours, and I was wide awake again for 3 hours, then fell back asleep for a couple of hours. Sleep has become weird.
Aside from Day 5 & 6, the most annoying thing I’ve dealt with has been my port. It’s just sore. The muscles around it are sore. I have to be careful about lifting or pushing with my right arm, how much I move or stretch my right arm. It’s annoying. I’m in a hurry for it to heal, but it’s only been a week. Thankfully only the area around the actual device is sore. The catheter that goes from my port, then into my jugular and down towards my heart doesn’t bother me in the least. Except when they flush it out and I feel a cool trail of liquid flowing under my skin, over my collar bone, and back down. That is a weird sensation. If I didn’t explain it before, the biggest reason they put a port in is because chemo is hard on your veins. By injecting right into my artery, it’s saving my veins. In case you want to know more about ports, check out this website. I have a PowerPort Slim. https://www.bardaccess.com/products/ports/powerport#literature
Day 8 I washed my hair, and I’m pretty sure I lost more than was necessary. Plus I kept finding stray hairs on Saturday. We’ll see how long it will be until I shave it. Once a bunch starts falling out, or it’s noticeably thin, or sections start coming out, it’s gone. I don’t like it, but I’m prepared for it. I’m debating whether to shave a fancy design into my head when I do it. If you have any ideas, send them my way.
By the way, if anyone wants to try a K-Drama on Netflix and you’re willing to read subtitles, there are two that I highly recommend you try. If you like historical action, Mr. Sunshine is awesome. The first episode has some flashback stuff that can be confusing to keep straight, but the rest of it is great. It takes place when Japan is beginning to take over Korea, and how some people are trying to fight back. If you want something more current, Crash Landing on You is a perfect mix of suspense, action, comedy, good guys, bad guys, and romance. A rich South Korean business woman accidentally ends up in North Korea, and a whole group of North Korean soldiers are reluctantly trying to help protect her and get her back to South Korea. The characters in this show are outstanding. It also really brings to light the difference between North and South Korea. I binge watched that one when You-Know-What originally went down in March. It is incredibly addicting. I just may have to rewatch it.
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