What's In A Chemo Session?
Three rounds down, three more to go! Yeah!
This time actually has gone better (so far) than the first two. In fact, I'm back at work today, which I wasn't expecting, judging by my earlier sessions. My first treatment, I got sick with some sort of nasty cold/flu or something on top of the general ickiness of the chemo, plus I had to fly cross-country only four days after the session, plus plus I lost my hair, so let's just say that the experience was, um, not fun.
My second treatment went OK, but the anti-nausea drugs only barely did their job (so it seemed to me), meaning that while I didn't throw up, I did have trouble eating for at least two days following the chemo, because the thought of food was completely intolerable. I also spent my time mostly lying in bed, unable to read, and barely able to even watch movies. I felt totally miserable.
With my third treatment, the new anti-nausea drug they gave me seems to be doing the trick, thankfully sans hiccups (see previous post). I still felt a little blah during the past few days, but overall did well.
Speaking of treatments, some people have asked me just what a chemotherapy session entails. Well, there are different types of chemo treatments for different types of cancer, but I can tell you in one short sentence what my sessions look like:
Me sitting in a comfy recliner chair with an IV stuck in my arm for five hours.
That's it. I try to read, but they give me Benadryl before they start the actual chemo drugs, so I end up feeling a bit woozy. Sometimes friends come to keep me company. Once I watched a movie. This last time, I actually conjured up a stunning amount of productivity and wrote 69 whole words of a brand-new short story.
I'll wait til some of you have recovered from the shock of that last revelation before I continue. (It may help you to recover quicker if I tell you that I have not added one bit to those 69 words since I wrote them.)
There, are we all better? Great! Moving on...
So yeah, it's not exactly what you would call fun and exciting, but it's not horrible, either. I don't feel any pain; heck, I barely feel the IV needle when they stick it under my skin. Mostly the whole ordeal is just long and tiring and boring.
Could be worse!
That said, I'm definitely glad to be on the far side of the halfway point. Whew!
This time actually has gone better (so far) than the first two. In fact, I'm back at work today, which I wasn't expecting, judging by my earlier sessions. My first treatment, I got sick with some sort of nasty cold/flu or something on top of the general ickiness of the chemo, plus I had to fly cross-country only four days after the session, plus plus I lost my hair, so let's just say that the experience was, um, not fun.
My second treatment went OK, but the anti-nausea drugs only barely did their job (so it seemed to me), meaning that while I didn't throw up, I did have trouble eating for at least two days following the chemo, because the thought of food was completely intolerable. I also spent my time mostly lying in bed, unable to read, and barely able to even watch movies. I felt totally miserable.
With my third treatment, the new anti-nausea drug they gave me seems to be doing the trick, thankfully sans hiccups (see previous post). I still felt a little blah during the past few days, but overall did well.
Speaking of treatments, some people have asked me just what a chemotherapy session entails. Well, there are different types of chemo treatments for different types of cancer, but I can tell you in one short sentence what my sessions look like:
Me sitting in a comfy recliner chair with an IV stuck in my arm for five hours.
That's it. I try to read, but they give me Benadryl before they start the actual chemo drugs, so I end up feeling a bit woozy. Sometimes friends come to keep me company. Once I watched a movie. This last time, I actually conjured up a stunning amount of productivity and wrote 69 whole words of a brand-new short story.
I'll wait til some of you have recovered from the shock of that last revelation before I continue. (It may help you to recover quicker if I tell you that I have not added one bit to those 69 words since I wrote them.)
There, are we all better? Great! Moving on...
So yeah, it's not exactly what you would call fun and exciting, but it's not horrible, either. I don't feel any pain; heck, I barely feel the IV needle when they stick it under my skin. Mostly the whole ordeal is just long and tiring and boring.
Could be worse!
That said, I'm definitely glad to be on the far side of the halfway point. Whew!
posted by grackyfrogg @ 1:15 PM
5 Comments:
At 1:41 PM ,
Kelsey said...
So glad things are getting a little better and you're almost done!! I wish I could have talked more today - was in a time crunch. Let's try and talk soon though!
At 2:16 PM ,
Beth said...
It's good to know that things are going well and that things are looking up. :)
At 10:19 PM ,
monkey and sabs said...
that's very encouraging grace! has the tumor or presence of cancer decreased? i'm assuming the chemo is doing it's job zapping those cells.
hannah
At 3:34 AM ,
Anonymous said...
Wahoo, already half way threw :)
At 9:05 PM ,
grackyfrogg said...
yeah, the tumor has indeed shrunk! i will have a PET scan again after the fourth round and that should give a more accurate idea of just how much is left... if any! unfortunately i still will have to finish out the chemo even if it's gone... just to try to make sure it doesn't come back. but oh well!
Post a Comment
<< Home