On Wednesday I had my 7th chemo treatment. It is hard for me to believe that I have been through this 7 times now. I think it is kind of been a blur...obviously a gift from God to minimize all of the pain I have endured.
I had someone ask me the other day what chemo was like and I was really caught of guard by that. At the time I had gone through 6 treatments and that was honestly the first time someone had asked me that question. I was totally unprepared and ended up giving a terrible answer I am sure but the question has been swirling around in my mind every since. I would love to find a way to describe what it is like so that people can have a real sympathy for it - not for me - but for your neighbor, friend, and family member. Everyone seems to know someone close to them that has cancer, gone through cancer, or will go through cancer and I continually pray that the Lord will use my experience to help others. That He will use my words to articulate what it is all about so that maybe you have just a little clearer picture on what that special person in your life is going through and you can be there to support them in a way that maybe you didn't know possible before.
So what is chemo like? Now I am going to throw a wrench in the whole works and not give a direct answer - It is different for everyone. :-) I know, I know, how is THAT suppose to help you help anyone. Well, it doesn't. But let me go on......My chemo rolls around every other week which does not give me a whole lot of time to recover. I feel like I finally get to feeling well again and try to cram everything I need to do in just a few days and then it is time for another treatment. Others have chemo every three weeks, every week, once a month, and so on and so forth. It just depends on what type of cancer you have and what stage you are at.
Also, there are many different types of chemo. Evidently there are people who can just take a pill (where can you sign up for that option I would sure like to know) but for others it is done through an i.v. My chemo is pumped into me with an i.v. and as I have shared before, I have a port that creates easy access and saves my veins.
I get several drugs pumped into me during each chemo treatment. There is of course the pre-chemo cocktail as I like to call it. For everyone else in the planet it puts them into a nice nap. For me - not so much. I sit there wide awake while they continue to give me the 4 drugs that make up my chemo concoction. My plan is called the "ABVD" - (sounds like a new investment plan - I wish) and cleverly each of the letters represents one of the drugs. This is suppose to be the good stuff when it comes to kicking the Hodgkin's tail. I sure hope so.
As they inject my body with all of the stuff I don't really feel much most of the time. Sometimes I feel a bit nauseated for a few moments but that is generally something that last just for a few moments. I have had stomach cramps in the past and other funky side effects but those aren't the norm. I do know after sitting for several hours when I try to stand up my legs feel heavy and I do feel weak and that is the standard for me for the next few days.
My dear hubby kindly loads me up after chemo, takes me home, and puts me to bed. I don't feel good but I don't feel terrible at that point....just blah. Sometimes I have nausea in the evenings. I have to constantly keep something in my stomach or it gets worse. My palate is pretty limited on what sounds good now. I seem to associate everything that I use to like with the nausea and - you guessed it - the thought of that particular item makes me nauseous all over again and so it must be avoided.
I think I struggle with the nausea more than most do. You aren't really suppose to have nausea with chemo now-a-days. But I am on about 4 or 5 different nausea meds and I still struggle with it. Thursday morning is about the same as Wednesday. I just feel blah. I may be having hot flashes, etc. but I am still able to cope pretty well. The hard part for me comes Thursday afternoon. 24 hours after chemo they give me a booster shot to help my immunity. I have heard that this can cause severe pain in people. It does cause me some discomfort but mostly it just completely knocks me out and I need to sleep a lot for the next few days. I do get some aches and pains along with it but to actually feel those I have to be coherent and most of the time after my shot I am not. I struggle with this for the next few days - usually Saturday, Sunday, and on into Monday. The times I am awake I feel uncomfortable pretty much all the time. I feel like my G.I. system is just completely shot. Everything burns when it goes down and everything causes me heartburn making it even worse. Pepto and Pepcid are close friends of mine now and they do an okay job of making the discomfort bearable.
I have done a great deal of research regarding chemo for Hodgkin's Lymphoma patients - for those who know me I know you are not surprised by this. I research everything. Anyway, I have read multiple times that Hodgkin's Lymphoma patients should expect to feel tire 1-2 days a month - the days of their chemo. Anytime I read this I generally want to write whoever decided to put that little tid-bit of incorrect info a letter explaining what really happens and ask them where they got such information. And it isn't just me - I did consider the fact that I might just be a big baby about the whole chemo thing, I really did consider that - but I do know other patients with HL and even though they all do handle it differently and it doesn't affect us all the same, they are a bit more fatigued than just 1-2 days a month. So, if you happen to ever read that in all of the research I know you are doing on HL - just throw that concept out the window. I can tell you it is not true.
Anyway, that is my chemo in a nutshell. I am 3 days past now - dealing with heavy fatigue, the gross feeling of nausea on an off, and the feeling that my entire G.I. system is on fire but I am getting through it. For those of you who have been dying to know what my chemo is like (I am laying the sarcasm on super thick here) now you have finally found the answer and can cross that one off the list. You can move onto much more exciting things like how hang nails form or why men have the ability to actually think of "nothing".
Praying this finds all of you happy, healthy, and blessed,
~Andrea
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