After Chemo…

Chemo was October 19, 2019 From then until October 27 I have felt like I was run over. They sent me home with meds for nausea. I take it every six hours. Eating has been a battle but I learned a few tricks I will share.

Metal is a no no. I had my water in a metal Yeti cup. It was disgusting. It tasted like I was licking the side of a car or something. We figured out after 2 days to put my water in a plastic cup. Much better. Coffee, as much as I love it, was just too harsh. One sip and my stomach would immediately roll. Dry foods with minimal smell worked best.

My husband was researching online, trying to help me and found one I had not heard of. SOUR FOODS! That’s right, pickles, lemon flavors, salt they all seem to sooth the stomach.

Its very important for me to have nourishment. Although I am chubby they do not want me losing weight at this time. Never been told that by a doctor before!

Very dry eggs and grits worked ok, in small amounts. Big meals are a thing of the past. Instead I am to eat 6 small meals per day. A meal can consist of a handful of nuts.

I am hungry, my stomach is rolling, my head hurts, now I have diarrhea and my bones are aching bad enough to make me stumble when I walk. This is NOT for sissies.

I discovered I could make tuna salad with a lot of dill pickle cubes and minimal mayo and it stayed down well. Bread tastes sweet like cake, yuck. I am adding salt to everything! Its about the only way I taste it. Greasy heavy foods are a NO.

Using plastic eating utensils helps with taste. The metal does something to what you taste. The acid re-flux and heartburn are off the charts. I think I have consumed more Tums than food. Wonder what the nutritional value of Tums is? I should look that up.

I learned the proper way to count chemo days. Day 1 is the day you got treatment. So one week later, what we would think of as 7 days is actually day 8. Well on day 8 I still fell like poop!

If you get in the car take a bucket or bag just in case. You don’t want to have to clean up vomit in this state.

I have worked a little this week but it has been SO hard to force myself to go in. I just want to sleep. The other side of that coin is that I have been in the bed so much my back is killing me!

Claritin taken daily helps with the bone pain, a well as 2 Tylenol morning, noon and night.

Your lips get really dry, when you are buying that hand sanitizer get some Chap-stick or some sort of lip balm.

Now here is the kick in the face… I have acne again like I am going through puberty. Its on my face, my chest , my back. What the heck! I paid my dues. Even raised kids. I am not supposed to go through this again. I looked it up, yes its a side effect of one of my medications. GRRRRRR

I get cold easier, I am in menopause so I usually freeze my entire family. Now I stay wrapped in a blanket most of the time.

In preparation of loosing my hair I did some research, it seems the less I do to it, like blow dryers, flat irons and such, the longer I may be able to keep it. So, I cut off all my long hair. Its a wash and go style. Very little management so maybe it will hang around a little longer.