Chemo and me

I realized that the day after chemo makes you almost feel invincible. The steroids they give you during chemo makes you feel great the day after chemo and then all things change. Thursday was a really tough day. I woke up and moved my head and wanted to puke. Thursday was the last day of all of the steroids and anti-nausea drugs though so I figured it would get better from there. I hate taking medications if I don't need them so I was really hoping I wouldn't have to take the anti-nausea meds after Thursday. I realized on Thursday that I had no interest in eating but if I didn't eat, I was extremely sick to my stomach. I did go out and walk the Workforce Team Challenge though that night which was good because I was moving but difficult because I also realized that chemo makes you dehydrated and I was needing water at water stops through the race. I was told that the worst days would be days 2 and 3 after chemo so I was excited for Friday and things to get better. I woke up without wanting to be sick and had only slight nausea through the day. We had decided to go to the camp for the weekend but that meant being in a car for 2 hrs. As a person who already gets car sick, this was going to be a challenge. We learned that if we stop and get out of the car half way through the drive and eat, then I tend not to get as sick. I started to develop a rash through Friday night and a severe headache. This is exactly the same feeling I had after surgery. I started to think back to the drugs they gave me during surgery and which ones they gave me during chemo and found that zofram was the common link. So, I elected to not take anti-nausea meds all weekend to get rid of my rash and headache. (As a side note, my doctors have all yelled at me for this saying that I need not be sick or have a headache.) I did realize that after the steroids are out of your system you do get tired too. Nap time is great but I am not completely exhausted all of the time. I did get out on my mountain bike on the road for the first time this weekend. I haven't ridden my mountain bike in years but it was wonderful! The wind through my super short hair, the feeling of propelling yourself forward. It was so nice. The nausea continued through the weekend. Nothing tastes right. I don't really want any food. It is sad but works best when I just go to a restaurant and have a limited amount of foods to choose from and just pick something and then eat some of it. Preparing my own food is hit or miss. I am really happy to be cooking with Joe because I can do all of the prep work (again, I am trying to get back to "normal" and I used to cook all of the time so this is important to me to be able to cook for myself again) and then Joe can cook the food so I can leave the kitchen while it heats up. The smell of cooking food is not always a helpful thing for me. I am also surprised by what I like and what I don't. Pasta, tomatoes, sweets, and I have been not a great combination but salty things, which I never really loved before, are very exciting to me - think pregnant women and pickles!! I didn't realize how much my life would end up revolving around food in such a different way than it ever did with training. I have been really focusing on making sure I am eating lots of whole grains, high quality foods to make sure that my diet isn't hindering my recovery. This isn't much different than before but because of my lack of food intake, I am trying to concentrate my nutrients into the best foods possible. I had two doctors appointments this week too. My surgeon has taken out all of my stitches! But we had to add some steri strips again since I still have two areas that are taking their sweet time in healing. He has given me permission to ride my road bike outside. I had ridden the mountain bike because of the position of the breaks and I thought it would be better on my incision so having him say that I could ride the road bike outside makes me very happy. Now I need to get the bike rack on the car!!! My oncologist has adjusted my antinausea meds and we will see how this works. So far so good. Although I am not hungry, I am not sick to my stomach which is fantastic. We are hoping that the headache will subside as zofran is eliminated from my body. We are also monitoring my feet for neuropathy through the next cycle. The amount of medications I am currently taking is ridiculous and it is really hard to pinpoint which meds are having which effects because I was exposed to 8 different new medications in 3 days last week. My 2nd Herceptin treatment went well but I was exhausted after treatment. Between being tired from chemo and then giving me benadryl during the treatment, I was knocked out. Well, at least we know what is to come. My body will adjust and adapt. I will see how the second round of chemo hits me and then I feel like I can plan around what I will feel like and what I can do.