Dec 15th (Monday, Day 1) I came home from treatment very tired and feeling very fuzzy. I became nauseous so I took both of the anti-nausea pills, ate dinner and went to sleep for the night.
Dec 16th (Tuesday, Day 2) I woke up very fuzzy still but went to work for 3-1/2 hours, I don't remember much of any of it. I now know that I won't do that again and will stay home and rest the day after. Still a little nauseous but not too bad, only took a anti-nausea pill in the morning. I felt great later in the evening and even stayed up later than normal.
Dec 17th (Wednesday, Day 3) I woke up and took anti-nausea pills right away, I was very nauseous all day long and could only think about what I ate on Monday during the treatment and wanted to throw up, I cannot get it out of my head. I am not sure I will ever eat another sugar cookie or a sandwich made at home again! I took my pills on a schedule and did not skip. I only took the sleepy anti-nausea pills during the night. I did not work today.
Dec 18th (Thursday, Day 4) I woke up and took an anti-nausea pill 1 hour before getting out of bed along with crackers and water. Then got ready for work. Jeff and I took a small walk up to the mailbox, my left foot was hurting and not sure if it was from Neulasta shot or what. Came home and took a nap before work, got to work around 10AM and stayed until 2:00PM. Went home and took a nap until Kaci got home. Took her to dance at 4:15PM and went home and took another nap then I went with Jeff to pick her up. Came home and took both anti-nausea pills and went to bed by 7:00PM.
Dec 19 (Friday, Day 5)- I woke up and took anti-nausea pills on schedule. Got in the shower and tried three times to get ready for work but could not make it happen. I am not nauseous but I am very tired and exhausted. I have never felt like this before so I don't even know how to explain it. It is hard to even hold the phone up to my ear to talk on it, I feel that weak. I did not work today. I have slept the whole day away again. As long as I am sleeping I do not feel depressed so I would like to say I am doing great in that regard. I am hoping that this weekend I will start to get some of my energy back. Especially with Christmas next week.
Dec 20 (Saturday, Day 6)- Today Kaci and I went to the mall. I wanted to look for some hats at Quilted Bear and then look around at Aeropostale and Old Navy. We made it through Quilted Bear and I didn't find anything. We wandered into Burlington Coat Factory and I found one beanie hat and Kaci and I both found a scarf that we liked. Standing in line I felt so exhausted and hot, I didn't know how I would make it home after. We went back into the mall and sat down for a little while and then went to the food court to get something to drink. I was feeling very anxious because I didn't know how I would make it to the food court let alone drive us home. We skipped Aeropostale and Old Navy and went back out though Quilted Bear. Kaci wanted to spend some of her own money and get some stuffed animals. While she shopped I sat on the floor in Quilted Bear with tears in my eyes at how weak and defeated I felt. I have never felt fatigue like this before. After her purchase we headed home. I came home and took a three hour nap. Kaci didn't notice a thing, she thought we had been shopping all day and was happy because she got a cute scarf and her stuffed animals. I am glad this experience didn't faze her. Later that night we went out for pizza and drove to Layton to look at the lights. We were going to go to Roy also but I just wanted to get home and lay down.
Dec 21 (Sunday, Day 7)- I felt my best today. I had more energy than I have had since the treatment. I did two loads of laundry and then lounged the day away with my family. We watched a few TV programs and just relaxed. About 6PM a monstrous headache hit. I couldn't sleep at all, it felt like my head was resting on concrete when I would lay down. I don't know that I have had a headache like this one before. It made me very dizzy and nauseous. I slept from 11:30PM until 1:30AM and then I was up until about 4:40AM and in a lot of pain. Then I was able to fall back asleep until about 6AM. I took Tylenol for pain but it didn't touch my headache. Normally I would have taken Ibuprofen or Alleve but I was told I cannot take them because they thin your blood and my blood will already be dangerously thin from the treatment alone.
December 22nd (Monday, Day 8)- Kaci woke us up at 4:00AM because she didn't feel good, she is coming down with a cold. The timing is so bad right now for these sicknesses she keeps bringing home. I went to lay on the floor in my closet in my bathroom when I woke up at 6AM because my stomach was so upset from being dizzy from my headache and anxious for my nadir visit with the oncologist this morning. My appointment was at 10:50AM and just the thought and smell of the chemo room as well as accessing blood from my port made me nauseous. I was going to go to work today and just leave for the appointment but I couldn't get off of the bathroom floor and I was so tired from the lack of sleep. I decided to bag work for the day and slept as soon as Kaci left for school at 8:10AM until 9:00AM. I knew I had to put the numbing cream on my port at 9:50AM if I wanted blood drawn from that. Because of my anxiety I decided to not have them draw blood from my port but rather to stick my arm instead. I calmed down considerably after making this decision. I stayed in bed until 10:00AM, then got up and brushed my teeth, got dressed, put on a hat and a little mascara and we were out the door for my appointment. A nadir visit is where your blood counts are at their lowest levels. They also want to talk to you about how the week has been and see how low the levels are. We got to the appointment and Nikkol took my vitals and then she was able to draw my blood out of my arm and I didn't have to go to the chemo room! I was so very excited that I made this decision for a needle stick in my arm instead of my port because then I would have had to go to the chemo room for the blood draw. I have to figure out a way to gear up for Monday the 29th for chemotherapy. Seriously the though and smell of that room make me nauseous just like that. After the blood was drawn we were able to meet Nancy who is Dr. Stinnett's P.A. What a very kind, loving and caring person she is. She told me my white blood cell count is 0.0% so I have no immunity what so ever. My platelet count was also very low which is your bloods ability to clot. She said this is normal for 1 week out but it makes me so nervous because Kaci is sick. I have had a terrible sore throat and swollen glands since Friday but she didn't seem to concerned, apparently chemotherapy can cause that as well. I just hope I am not coming down with Kaci's cold. Nancy said that by Christmas my counts should be going up and I should be feeling good and to make sure that I enjoy my time with my family. Nancy also gave me an antibiotic for an infection in my lymph node incision that is hurting like crazy. Who would have thought that 5 weeks post op I would develop an infection. She said after 7 days or if it gets larger than the 1" it is now that I would need to go see my surgeon. On top of that I have a terrible sore inside my nose that is making the outside of my nose turn red and affecting my eye. My eye is constantly watering from it. I am a mess right now but if I didn't have the sore in my nose, the sore throat, the headache, or the infection I really do feel my energy has improved since the treatment. Obviously it is not where it normally is but it is a significant improvement over where it has been. After the appointment Jeff and I decided to grab a hamburger at Crown Burger. We walked in and it was very crowded, I told Jeff to get it to go and I went to the car. I don't know what I was thinking, I was just told to stay away from sick people and large crowds during nadir. Jeff brought our food to the car and we had a picnic, it was nice with just the two of us. It is crazy these small moments mean so much to me. Then we had to head to Winegar's to pick up my antibiotic and try and find some Excederin non-asprin to help kick my headache at the advise of Nancy. Of course Winegar's didn't have it so went home and I called mom to see if she was still working and could pick me some up. She was able to find some at CVS and brought them to me. I was able to get and hour and a half nap in before she came over and about 20 minutes after taking the Excederin Tension Headache formula my headache was gone. I felt so good after that. I also mixed up some Crystal Light Lemonade at the advise of the nurse today and it tasted so good. I drank 3 glasses. I have not been able to get my 2 liters of water in per day because water tastes so gross. I guess it is lemonade for me until this AC chemo is over. Kaci came home from school and retreated into her bedroom as did I. She did come out for dinner that Jeff made her and to pull her tooth out! I wasn't able to see it because I didn't want to get close to her for fear of getting sick. I just hope the tooth fairy doesn't disappoint. I hope to work tomorrow.
December 23rd (Tuesday, Day 9)- I woke up and made it to work at my normal start time of 7:00AM. I felt pretty good but did get nauseous at one point but I just ate some crackers and took an anti-nausea pill and it went away. Then I started with another lovely headache and took my Excederin and it went away. I only worked 4-1/2 hours and decided it was best to go home and rest but this was my best overall day so far.
December 24th (Wednesday, Day 10)- For the first time since treatment I feel 100% normal and just like me!!! Today was a great day and since it is Christmas Eve, I was extremely happy. The mouth sores started today and of course I would have this side effect too, I think I have had every side effect there is but I will take that over my energy being zapped any day. I worked for 5 hours and didn't want to leave at 1:00PM even though the shop closed at noon. It was so nice to feel normal and work today. I went home to relax and was even able to take a half hour nap and then mom came over and we ventured to Costa Vida to pick up a take out order for dinner. After dinner Kaci opened her presents from her grandma and we frosted cupcakes. Normally we make sugar cookies but I cannot even look at a sugar cookie or I want to throw up (I guess this is a good thing, they aren't healthy anyway). Kaci left a cupcake and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer and we headed to bed at 10:00PM. I am looking forward to Christmas tomorrow and hopefully feeling 100% again. I need to get a few good days in to make me gear up for my next appointment on Monday the 29th. I am getting more anxious about my hair but also coming to terms with it . Kaci will be doing my "haircut" on Sunday unless it starts to come out sooner. My scalp is definitely getting itchy and tender so I know it is not that far out.
December 25th (Thursday, Day 11)- I had another great and wonderful day. We had a very good Christmas and spent good quality time with our family. My energy level has been normal and the only side effect I am dealing with is the mouth sores but again that is easy compared to how I felt days ago. Jeff took Kaci out back sledding behind the 4-wheeler since we finally got snow today. Afterwards we had a nice sit down family dinner. It was a wonderful day! I took an hour nap from 4:00PM-5:00PM and then decided to start taking Christmas down. I do it every year but I do save the family room tree for the next day but I clean up all the decorations throughout the house. Jeff thinks I am crazy but after it is all over everything seems like a mess to me. I put all the presents away and clean up the house. Tomorrow should be easy with only one tree left to take down, then we need to clean the house and go to the grocery store.
December 27th (Saturday, Day 12)- I am still feeling great except for the mouth sores. I am trying to prepare for tomorrow, I have decided that, that is the day we will shave my head. Just today I noticed a few more hairs than normal came out in the brush, I even cried a little but it helps with my plan tomorrow because if I hadn't noticed any thinning then it would be harder to want to shave it. I don't want to have to worry about it next week because my second treatment is on Monday and if it is anything like the first treatment I know I will be feeling lousy and super tired. It is best for me to get this done Sunday night.
Side effects from the first round:
-extreme fatigue and exhaustion
-extreme nausea
-very bad headache
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