Dec. 28: Health update

Lookie there, my blog almost got back to a normal, non-cancer blog there for a bit. That was nice while it lasted.

It’s been a week since my second chemotherapy treatment, and I’m feeling much better this time around than I did a week after my first. That first time I was over-wary of any signs of nausea; this time I simply have felt very little. This is definitely a good thing. Throwing up sucks so much. Well, technically I guess it BLOWS, but I was trying to be less graphic. Heh. Oh well.

I also have more of an appetite this time than I did before. I drink Ensure at least once a day, usually in the morning, but the thought of other foods doesn’t make me queasy, so I’m often able to eat a normal-ish meal if someone brings it to me on a platter with fresh flowers. I’d like a newspaper, too, but don’t want to be demanding, you know.

This time, and today especially, I’m feeling more run-down than I remember that first week. Walking up the stairs zaps me and I need to stop at the top to catch my breath. Even getting up from the bed to get a drink kinda makes my head spin. Maybe it’s the dogs and cat that are constantly trying to trip me on the way, or the open armoire doors I still have not learned to keep closed to avoid further possible injury. Maybe it’s just that walking is finally stressing me out—I mean, I’m way overdue for a good spill, right? Or does having cancer supersede my awesome clumsiness?

I cannot give this time of year enough credit for keeping my mood up. I love the Christmas season, and I know the things I’m dealing with right now would seem much worse if not for it being my favorite time of year.

I’m also quite sure that one of the biggest differences in feeling better is that I’m getting sleep now. It’s not the most restful sleep, and it’s certainly not pain-free, but it goes for many hours at a time and more important than anything else, it’s horizontal. I’m tossing and turning quite a bit, getting too hot and then too cold, waking up over apparently nothing several times during the night… but getting back to sleep. This is a huge improvement over the way I’ve slept most of the year.

The other thing making me feel better, of course, is the lovely and effective pain medication. I’m cutting back on my original dosages, but still definitely need it. I didn’t have anything that helped my back pain before, but this potent stuff the oncologist prescribed helps me sleep, and if I need it, helps me get through the day without snarling at random people. I even talked to my grandma on the phone the other day with unclenched teeth! Thank you, OxyContin!

After my first chemo treatment, it was the second week that sucked the most—I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. Everything ached. It hurt to move, it hurt to be touched, it hurt to be me. I got twinges of that today, and if there’s a pattern to chemo reactions, I expect it’ll get bad again. Grrr. This is when I’m very, very thankful that my mom is here to help with Katie and Jack and bring me food on a lovely tray with fresh flowers. I love that woman.

When I went in for last week’s treatment, I had a dry, scratchy cough. It’s gotten a lot worse since then, and is now one of those coughs where I half expect lobes of my lungs to come up. I need to find out if I should be taking something for it, because it’s hanging on longer than it seems it should. I don’t want to add more drugs to my list, but I’ve grown fond of my lungs and would like to keep them.

My vision is still inconsistently weird. Apparently there’s nothing that can be done for it, and its weirdness is temporary so low priority, I guess. I just have to hope it’s not awful when I need to be driving somewhere or watching a Law & Order: SVU marathon I’ve not yet seen.

Generally speaking, things are going better after Round #2, but it’s possible I’m speaking too soon. If so, I may have to disappear from my blog and FB for a bit to figure out how to be me again. So there’s my health update, and now I’m going to bed.