Things I’ve learned during chemo

 

I am 50 percent done with chemo after yesterday! And have learned along the way.

·       The appointments suck – why so many appointments that don’t “do” anything. And, they tell you when the appointment is mainly and it's tough to change. And each appointment, no matter or long it is, takes 3+ hours including drive time, wait time, meet time. And, the artwork doesn't get better in the doctor's offices.

Cold capping (involves dry ice, caps, velcro straps to tighten, ear "bras," shower caps, panty liners (yes) and the Jiffy Pop top). Change every 15 to 25 minutes until 3 hours after chemo.

My IV

Cold capping log 

My chemo room set up -- use a Hazmat can for my laptop -- improvise!

Next time, I'll take pictures of the signage that needs editing.

The signage also needs to be updated with proper wording.

·         Not knowing what symptoms you’ll get and when suck. But now that I’m in to two chemos, a “routine” is settling in:

o   Constipation - never had this problem, but now I'm a Miralax fan, Prune Juice and Aloe fan, and prune fan.

CVS has this on sale a lot. And coupons in the Sunday circular.

 

I bought this at Cox Farms (our local produce, health store in OC). It's in the probiotic section and a little goes a long way with prune juice (the Cox Farms prune juice is better than stuff you get at Tom Thumb)

o   Weird food tastes (but ice cream is fine) – think of chewing on aluminum foil

o   Chemo fog (after day four or five)

o   Diarrhea (not sure if this is due to chemo drugs, or trying to get rid of constipation – prunes and prune juice with the above aloe vera juice and miralax may be the combo of choice to rid of constipation)

o   Hair loss – now I’m just shedding gobs of hair. Don’t know if the cold capping is working, or if this is what 50% looks like. And you think of hair on your body, but don’t really think about pubic hair. I haven’t lost much of my eyebrows or lashes (yet) and my peach fuzz seems to hang around. Haven’t shaved in a couple of weeks, but never did have to shave a lot.

o   Skin issues -- At third week after chemo, my skin breaks out (and for someone who doesn’t break out, this sucks). Since I never really dealt with this in the past, not sure how to handle. Especially since over all my skin is really dry and I’m slathering on Eucerin for extra dry skin. According to Dr. Nair, there isn't anything I can really do skin care wise for this -- she can prescribe an ointment, but I guess it can peel off your skin. I'm passing. It's chemo. But, I'm using Cetaphil and not stopping my moisturizer. 

o   Nosebleed -- After two weeks, slight nosebleed (the first one freaked me out because I’d never had a nose bleed and it dripped all over my work – splat goes the blood drops – it does make a splat noise).

o   Countdowns until the end are allowed (I am 1/3 done. Next week marks the half-way point.)

o   The chemo port is a bit annoying. Sometimes it’s raised more than other times. It doesn’t itch, but it just isn’t invisible and doesn’t not itch. I can’t believe I’ll be wearing this for a year, and some people wear it for multiple years. I am glad, I think, that it’s on my left side. The neck “lump” really bothers me for some reason. It’s like a little knobby thing that I can’t keep my fingers off of.

o   To try to wash my hair less, I bathe less. But, not running any marathons or sweating a lot on my wii fit, so guess we’ll survive on this lack of hygiene. And they do tell you to save hair, wash less (and use warm, not hot water – this is tough because I like scalding hot and quick showers)

o   Normally I’m warm. Now I’m on the cold side and can sleep at night without kicking all of the covers off (as much as I used to).

o   Back to food. Freshly (https://www.freshly.com ) home-delivered meals are great when you’re just too tired to cook. They are surprisingly:

§  Healthy

§  Tasty (the beef peppercorn and Dijon pork were better than the chicken offerings, but maybe because we cook a lot of chicken already)

§  Filling (the portions are just right, maybe too much for me, and just right for Tony).

50 50 percent done. 3 chemos in. 3 to go. 9 weeks. 

D  Disclosures: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a medical professional whatsoever. If you are concerned about your health, I encourage you to talk to your doctor. This post contains a few affiliate links. If you click them and buy something, I might earn a small commission, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own. I am also NOT a photographer. I work at a creative firm and we hire photographers. My photography is quite, well, awful.