Forum Discussion

dawngirl's avatar
dawngirl
Member
13 years ago

Day 2, round 1 - chemotherapy

So not what I expected. Here I am lying contentedly on the day bed playing on line scrabble, chatting with my husband and watching tv all at the same time.

I. feel. completely. normal.

My day started with an ocean pool swim, breakfast by the beach, reading the saturday papers, out for brucnh, visited a few friends and then home to laze about and relax after a frenetic couple of months of work/diagnosis/surgery/to chemo or not to chemo/christmas/new year.

this. is. so. not. what. I. anticipated.

There has been no nausea. No loss of appetite. I don't feel tired.

Whilst I say I feel completely normal...there is actually a very vague feeling of not feeling normal...i can't put my finger on what that is. Like the faintest feeling something is going on in my body (which it is), but as I haven't experienced it before I can't quite describe it. I don't have the words.

I write this post with a sense of wonderment and relief, and, under no illusion that it may stay this way...but given how much i've eaten, and what I've eatne since treatment yesterday afternooon, I may have escaped the nausea side of things. Not a hint of this. Though my toast this morning did taste a bit salty and I awoke feeling a little dehydrated.

Has this been the experience for anyone out there? We read so many tales of the awful side effects (and I am sure I have some on the way, none more so than the hair loss and the fatigue), but not so much that it might not be so bad sometimes, as we all react differently.

 

I am quite honestly shocked at how well I feel at the moment (I realise it probably won't last)...but it's been fantastic to wake up the day after and feel like my world as I know it has not come totally to an end...that I was able to revel in an early morning swim and feel fantastic doing something I love that makes my soul sing...that I've spent a really happy day with my husband..overjoyed I don't feel sick when he was braced for seeing me suffer.

I hope my experience is not unique. I hope many of you go through treatment feeling it is not nearly as bad as we had feared.

 

Wishing everyone on this chemo journey a better road than they anticipated.

 

x

10 Replies

  • Tanya's avatar
    Tanya
    Member
    13 years ago
    Awesome that you feel so good, hopefully it will continue, day 4 and 5 are by far the worst, but they will pass quick enough too. Thanks for sharing, as it will give others treading the same path some hope and insight. Take care and keep up the good work. Tanya
  • dawngirl's avatar
    dawngirl
    Member
    13 years ago

    I'm not always positive and happy....this is such an up and down process as we all know. However, for the most up I stay on the upside thanks to a very supportive husband, a small handful of extrememly supportive friends, and my loving Mum. Throw in my cats, the ocean, books, movies, online scrabble, good food and being able to see the ocean from our home, and all these have combined to keep me focused on the good things that outweigh the bad.

    Glad to hear you fared similarly well on the nausea front....not looking forward to the fatigue part...wondering if it will feel like chronic fatigue did when I sufferered that in my mid 20s....hopefully not..because that lasted a year!

    As for a 14 hour drive -- that would knock anyone out.

    Sorry to hear your Mum is so unwell..but great you were fine to make the trip to spend a very special Christmas with her.

    Will think of you on Wednesday and keep all crossed round 2 is kind to you and your good cells...but really touch on your bad ones.

    x

     

    x

  • dawngirl's avatar
    dawngirl
    Member
    13 years ago

    I'm not always positive and happy....this is such an up and down process as we all know. However, for the most up I stay on the upside thanks to a very supportive husband, a small handful of extrememly supportive friends, and my loving Mum. Throw in my cats, the ocean, books, movies, online scrabble, good food and being able to see the ocean from our home, and all these have combined to keep me focused on the good things that outweigh the bad.

    Glad to hear you fared similarly well on the nausea front....not looking forward to the fatigue part...wondering if it will feel like chronic fatigue did when I sufferered that in my mid 20s....hopefully not..because that lasted a year!

    As for a 14 hour drive -- that would knock anyone out.

    Sorry to hear your Mum is so unwell..but great you were fine to make the trip to spend a very special Christmas with her.

    Will think of you on Wednesday and keep all crossed round 2 is kind to you and your good cells...but really touch on your bad ones.

    x

     

    x

  • dmed's avatar
    dmed
    Member
    13 years ago
    Glad your feeling so good . Funny how we all can feel so different but I found that the fatigue was hard to deal with .. We have to be kind to ourselves and sometimes I was so tired could not walk very far but did try to do something . Pilates helped me a lot. Wishing you all the best.
  • dmed's avatar
    dmed
    Member
    13 years ago
    Glad your feeling so good . Funny how we all can feel so different but I found that the fatigue was hard to deal with .. We have to be kind to ourselves and sometimes I was so tired could not walk very far but did try to do something . Pilates helped me a lot. Wishing you all the best.
  • Leonie_Moore's avatar
    Leonie_Moore
    Member
    13 years ago

    Good work.  You sure are doing all the right things.  Exercise - be it basic - is very important for your recovery.  Just do what you can and keep listening to your body. On my Dex days (especially the day before chemo) was my house speed cleaning day.  Then after day 3 I was flattened then of course as you will find out you have your good days from about day 6-9.  XLeonie

  • dawngirl's avatar
    dawngirl
    Member
    13 years ago

    Good advice. I thought I might keep a log on here but that could be too much for the other users! I've checked my temp and it's 36.1...given your experience I wiill definitely be obsessively monitoring my temperature regularely. Especially under current hot conditions when it could be easy to dismiss as "it's just the weather".

    I am definitey going with the flow, have almost cleared the work decks as much as I can (only next week is ugly, but i've organised extra support just in case), so now just a matter of doing all the right things to stay as well as I can through this.

    Esting well, resting well, taking my meds when I should, taking the right supplements, and exercising as much as I can in a gentle way every day as it is supposed to make the recovery process a quicker one. This might mean walking to the post box some days but I've made a pact with my husband that if I don't swim then we have to go for a walk that day..just a gentel one...but to keep me mobile, focused on getting better and for the joy of taking in the natural beauty of where we live.

    Great to see you've come out the other side

    x

  • dawngirl's avatar
    dawngirl
    Member
    13 years ago

    Good advice. I thought I might keep a log on here but that could be too much for the other users! I've checked my temp and it's 36.1...given your experience I wiill definitely be obsessively monitoring my temperature regularely. Especially under current hot conditions when it could be easy to dismiss as "it's just the weather".

    I am definitey going with the flow, have almost cleared the work decks as much as I can (only next week is ugly, but i've organised extra support just in case), so now just a matter of doing all the right things to stay as well as I can through this.

    Esting well, resting well, taking my meds when I should, taking the right supplements, and exercising as much as I can in a gentle way every day as it is supposed to make the recovery process a quicker one. This might mean walking to the post box some days but I've made a pact with my husband that if I don't swim then we have to go for a walk that day..just a gentel one...but to keep me mobile, focused on getting better and for the joy of taking in the natural beauty of where we live.

    Great to see you've come out the other side

    x

  • Leonie_Moore's avatar
    Leonie_Moore
    Member
    13 years ago

    Hi Dawngirl,  Just go with the flow.  However you feel, let your body tell you how to act/rest/play.  It is one day at a time during chemo.  I kept a daily diary when I did chemo.  It was a good record to look back on for each chemo.  Have you been keeping your temperature checks happening?  It is really important to monitor your temps and if they go up to 38 degrees you need to contact a hospital asap.  On my second chemo my temps went up to this.  I felt okay and not sick at all BUT if I hadn't gone to hospital and had the appropriate treatment in isolation for 9 days things would have been really different.  All the best with your treatment.  You will get through it - what kept me going was the knowledge that many had "gone before me" and came out the other end. XLeonie

  • Leonie_Moore's avatar
    Leonie_Moore
    Member
    13 years ago

    Hi Dawngirl,  Just go with the flow.  However you feel, let your body tell you how to act/rest/play.  It is one day at a time during chemo.  I kept a daily diary when I did chemo.  It was a good record to look back on for each chemo.  Have you been keeping your temperature checks happening?  It is really important to monitor your temps and if they go up to 38 degrees you need to contact a hospital asap.  On my second chemo my temps went up to this.  I felt okay and not sick at all BUT if I hadn't gone to hospital and had the appropriate treatment in isolation for 9 days things would have been really different.  All the best with your treatment.  You will get through it - what kept me going was the knowledge that many had "gone before me" and came out the other end. XLeonie