Saturday, May 16th - I've noticed a pattern --the weekend after chemo - I'm sluggish. Today I'm tired. I'm not hurting, no fever, not nauseous... I just feel weak and lethargic. I napped quite a bit today, but in the evening I had a hard time sleeping. That happened after my 2nd round too.
Sunday, May 17th - Ditto from the above. I felt blah. I feel bad for Bev just watching me mope about. In the morning, I did make a discovery today. I thought I had a UTI. There was frequency with going to the bathroom like every half-hour. I called the oncology office and got the answering service, left a message and after 5 minutes I got a call back from the on-call doctor. It was an interesting conversation. He asked me my symptoms and it was just frequent urination - no burning, no fever, just frequency. He said that with chemo, it can mess with your bladder - cause inflammation, but it doesn't mean a UTI, especially since I didn't have any other symptoms. He suggested that I drink cranberry juice, the natural kind without sugar which tastes like sucking on lemons. By that afternoon, the problem went away. It makes me wonder if I had a UTI a few weeks back. Back then the nurse started me on antibiotics right away, before I got urine test results back. But I was suffering for 4 days with the frequency issues. So I took the antibiotics. I'll have to ask my doctor for a definitive answer on whether or not I had a UTI.
So, again, for Sunday, overall I didn't feel well. I can't complain that I was sick, I just felt blah. My sleep at night isn't great. The first 3 hours I wake up every hour, then every two hours, so it's not restful. I also get crazy night sweats. This night my PJs and bed sheet was soaked with sweat.
Monday - Today I felt better in terms of energy, but I had really bad acid reflux ALL day. I couldn't get rid of it. I'll have to find out what I should do for it because it made me so uncomfortable. Today, I made a brilliant purchase... I bought a recliner. With all of my naps and the acid reflux which makes sleeping horizontal on a bed uncomfortable, I can now nap on the recliner. It arrives next Tuesday. I may never resurface.
Tuesday - I'm feeling better today, almost like my old self. I had a little acid reflux in the morning, but by afternoon it was gone. I do have a nagging dry cough that I've had for weeks. I'll ask the doctor about it. I don't cough often and would ordinarily ignore it or chalk it up to allergies, but they say with chemo I should let them know about everything.
Wednesday was good... Bev and I worked in the yard. Here in Arizona, I get winter grass, which I love. It comes up in November and then dies in April and turns yellow. It's in the front and back. There's a special tool this farm girl had never heard of called a hula hoe. It removes the dead winter grass so easily. The Sergeant and I first tried to remove this grass and we did it all by hand because I didn't have a tool that worked well. He did most of the work and made great headway. Then on the day before he left, my neighbor told us about this tool, which Sergeant purchased right away. It took about 1/5th of the time to do the same amount of work. When he left he finished about 1/4 of the back yard. He also removed these ugly plants I had in the bed in front of my house. After that, my sister, who loves yard and garden work, helped me finish the front and back. My nurse said it's good for me to exercise at least 30-minutes a day. So on days we didn't walk, we worked in the garden. Bev made sure I never over did it. Today, we finished all of the yard work. Praise God, because believe me when I say I would have never done any of it if it weren't for them.
Thursday Bev, Brooke and I drove up to Mt. Lemmon. It was nice to be out and have an activity to look forward to. On Mt Lemmon, we hung out in Summerhaven, a small town on the mountain. It just so happens that there was a fire nearby while we were having our picnic. We heard the helicopters that carried water, and we saw some fire trucks, but they didn't tell us to move, so we weren't in any immediate danger.
Friday was a lazy day. I felt good. One thing that does bother me is my port. It's this constant annoyance. It's on the side where my seat belt is so there's some rubbing even though I made a fabric cushion to soften it. Even when I'm not driving, I seem to always be aware of it. Bra straps and tank shirts rub against it. It can make sleeping comfortable if I happen to turn on my side. I'm grateful for it because of my tiny vein issues, but I wish I weren't so constantly aware of it. Also, when they flush my port, there's a weird medicinal taste in my mouth. Other people have described it as metallic taste, but that's not my experience. It's just a weird clinical taste.
Saturday, my sisters, sister-in-law and I stayed at a VRBO in Tucson. It's weird to go on vacation in your own town. But it was a lovely home with a pool. Even if I'm not allowed to swim, I can stick my toe in. Something weird happened while I was eating dinner. In the middle of my meal, I stopped tasting the food. I remember tasting the first bite of my turkey burger and potato salad, but after a few bites in everything was bland. I could however taste the corn on the cob. sure what to make of it. There are plenty articles that offer suggestions, including keeping variety of spices because it helps your brain process food better.
Sunday, May 24 - more family love at the VRBO. Same thing happened with food. I stopped tasting it halfway through eating. My tongue has also turned colors. There's purple spots throughout. It's common for chemo. I'll spare you a photo of my purple tongue. Kinda gross to look at even for me.
Monday - Labor Day - we returned home from our VRBO which was only 18 miles away. We chilled for the rest of the day.
Tuesday - I had my pre-chemo doctor appointment. I asked about the urine test and the UTI. She pulled up the report and it showed that I did NOT have a UTI. I was shocked and very disappointed that no one called me to tell me, despite asking for results that evening. So basically I took antibiotics for 6 days and didn't need to. During my doctor's appointment, she also reiterated it was important to try and distance myself and going to an office all day for 5 days isn't distancing. She mentioned that in about 5 weeks I'll get another MRI to see if the mass is still there and I'll meet with my surgeon to discuss the plan after chemo is over.
Also today, my recliner arrived. I love it. Since I often take naps, I wanted a place other than my bed to lay down. My couch isn't comfortable for naps. Plus, when I experience acid reflux, which occurs more frequently while on chemo, it's uncomfortable to lay flat on a bed, so reclining with my chest and head up doesn't trigger the acid reflux.
Tomorrow is my fourth round of chemo. It's my last dosa dense (aka mega dose) and after that I go to a lower weekly dose.