One Down, Five To Go

The day of reckoning had arrived! My friend had asked my if I was 'bricking it' about my first chemo. My honest answer was no. Just over a year ago, I watched my husband sit in the same treatment centre to get his one and only cheeky dose of carbo to essentially cure his cancer. The process of administering my lovely cocktails of chemicals did not bother me, not knowing how I would react over the coming days however did play on my mind. After some failed attempts at finding a vein, one was eventually found on my knuckle, (not the most pleasant of experiences - portacath here we come!). As this was my first treatment there was a lot of stuff to go through. Specific drugs being administered and why, side effects, what to do over the next few days, meeting the patient care nurse, sorting out the finances. My two and a bit hours there past very quickly and my kindle was left looking quite lonely as it didn't get much use. My chemo was on Friday morning, I didn't have breakfast or lunch. I was starving by the time we left. This resulted in a trip to the drive thru on the way to pick the girls up from school. By late afternoon I was feeling a little worse for wear, not sick, but not right. I had a little nap and felt better. I managed a sausage and a spoonful of mash for dinner and was in bed by 21:30. Saturday I felt reasonably good. My husband chickened out of giving me my steroid injection, so I did it myself. I managed to eat small amounts fairly frequently and tried to keep my fluids up. Early night had by all. By Sunday evening, the effects were starting to become more apparent. Although I had no nausea, I was incredibly tired and really had no interest in food or drink. I did however managed a sandwich and a cup a soup! Monday I felt like I was drunk, not quite in my body and moving at a different pace to the rest of the world. All I can say is, thank goodness there was no school that day. My girls looked after themselves and the little one just hung out with me in bed for most of the day. I just about coped with reheating some spaghetti bolegnese for dinner and forced myself to eat a small bowl. Tuesday again I felt drunk, but forced myself to go for a walk around the shop, then back to bed. I hardly ate or drank anything that day. I really just couldn't face it. Wednesday morning I was very shaky, probably due to lack of nutrition and fluids the day before. As the day progressed I did start to feel better and managed an omelette for dinner. By Thursday night I was back to feeling 'normal' again and ready to get on with life. On Tuesday I would have told you I never wanted to go through that ever again. By Thursday I felt differently. Next time I need some nutritious food in the fridge that I can snack on when I want food and I need more meals ready made in the freezer. I have mums on standby for school pick ups and drop offs. I know I can do this and so can you. Short term pain, for long term gain. That's the way I look at it.