I said I would post again to bring you all up to date with what is going on here. While chemo is not the most pleasant thing to write about, it has been my life the past couple of months so I’ll fill you in on that. In order to get it all started I first had a minor outpatient surgery to get a port in my chest. My treatments all go through the port rather than a vein in my arm. They feel this is safer due to the strength of my chemo. Since my cancer is stage four and has spread from the ovaries to the colon, they are hitting it up fairly hard. I am currently having chemo treatments every three weeks and each treatment lasts almost a full day. I receive two different medications administered separately. The first one takes a little over three hours and the second one is a bit faster. I always have blood work first and then see the doctor. After that the chemotherapy gets started. I don’t need to tell you how scared I was, especially for the first treatment. I had seen family members go through this but it is a bit different when it is yourself.
My view during chemotherapyThe truly
difficult part of chemo for me starts the second night after the treatments. In
my case I have terrible aches and pains along with a weakness I have never felt
before. I have plenty of medication at home for nausea and it helps most of the
time. However, I ended up in the hospital for a week a few days after my first chemo
treatment. I was in so much pain plus I had a severe colitis infection.
I managed to
stay out of the hospital after the second treatment but all of the discomfort I
felt the first time just seemed worse. I also started feeling numb in my
fingertips and toes which is related to chemo induced neuropathy. I have
learned to not plan anything for at least a week after each chemo treatment because
I am just barely able to function during that time.
My hair
started coming out a week after the first treatment and by now I just have a
little fuzz on my head. It is hard to see and experience that. I ordered some
chemo hats to wear although I rarely leave the house these days. We are having
groceries and most other items delivered which helps.
So yes,
chemo is rough, very rough, but as long as I can manage I am going to fight
this with all I have. There has been a time or two that I was so low I wondered
if I could continue but I know I have to, so I will.
I’m sorry
this is such a downer of a post but as I said, this is my life right now. Maybe
if someone else going through this reads my post it will help them to not feel
so alone. Or if someone has a friend or family member going through this it
will help them to understand what their loved one is dealing with. At any rate,
I appreciate you all being here.