Treatment

Merry Holidays

It’s most people’s FAVORITE time of year. Admittedly, I don’t like most holidays unless they are Halloween, so Christmas (grew up Roman Catholic) is a stressful holiday for me.

My favorite part is not even getting gifts but finding the *perfect* one for everyone. (If you know, you know!) I love gift-finding! But my brain has been mush and it’s been harder than other years. (It’s also weird not celebrating with my parents this year.)

Because I’m in that 7-10 day window, I’m staying home from the holiday festivities this year. I’m less excited about it than I thought I’d be. I’m getting a little squirrely being confined to the house – the bed, really. The first week after chemo is a LOT of resting. Problem is, my mind isn’t always tired, so it’s boring AF. I miss having random lunches with my coworkers and being able to meet up with people. We’ve been lucky so far, not getting hit with COVID (or did and didn’t know it). I don’t want to press my luck now, right before my last treatment. The omicron variation is scary, and the only reason we don’t have COVID right now is thanks to our vaccines. A kid at daycare tested positive, and then our provider did, so we’ve been isolating as much as possible – all negative tests! I kind of can’t believe it…but like I said, I don’t want to press my luck. So it’s home I stay until surgery.

The kids are super excited for the holiday festivities, and Evelyn has already started questioning if we got the right wish list from her. 😉 That kid is something else. They get a little squirrely when they’re home with us for long periods of time, so I’m really for all of this holiday stuff to be over so I can get closer to my goal.

Good – or great! really – news is that I feel pretty good. It’s been a relatively easy round this time, and I am VERY thankful for it. I can lift my feet now! So the water pill has gotten rid of the swelling. I’ve been taking my potassium pill and have no idea if it’s doing anything, but at least I’m following doctor’s orders. Eating protein has never been a strong suit of mine, but I’m trying to drink smoothies when I can to get a little boost. I may admit to eating some sugar…but it’s been a lot less. Eating sour things feels really good on my stomach and candy is easy to carry around and just pop in your mouth. It’s hard to get rid of it because the relief is instant.

Now, I’m going to talk about cannabis, so don’t go crazy. 😉 I have a medical cannabis card – cancer is a qualifying condition. Let me say that it does, in fact, help alleviate nausea – instantaneously, much like the sour candies. I use the vapes because I like that it’s instant, but I do have pills and tinctures. I don’t find the latter to be as effective, but you need to have eaten certain foods to get the benefit from it. It’s hard to use those because I don’t plan on feeling queasy, so I don’t use those much.

The nauseous feeling isn’t strong – it’s more like you can feel the drugs beating up your stomach and there’s the resulting queasiness. It’s manageable if I can stay on top of the medication options and make sure to eat EXACTLY when I need to. I’ve compared this a lot to being pregnant – it is. This reaction to being hungry has a faster response time. So I’m feeling hungry and then a minute later, I feel like I’m going to throw up. Timing counts for a lot (which is why the instant options are best).

I do have minor neuropathy in my fingers and toes, but I think the water keeps it at bay. It’s a little weird when I paint my nails, but I can use my hands, no problem.

The fatigue does wear on you – I don’t bounce back as quickly. The first week after the infusion is when I get the most symptoms and just need to lay down and rest. The first few rounds, I felt relatively normal during that second week. Now, my body feels sluggish all the time. I still get winded moving around after that first week. Mind is in (mostly) working order, so that’s something. But I don’t even want to bother taking a shower because it just zaps me of energy. I can go from bed to chair and chair to bed but that’s the extent of my travels. The finish line is so close. Just a few more weeks of managing symptoms and this leg of the journey will be over! Most of it at least.

Hoping the holidays will distract me so time ticks by faster.

Cheers to days off with warm blankets and the ones you love. ❤️