Here Come the Side Effects

It’s been a couple of days since I reported in and things are definitely starting to change. A couple of days ago I awoke about 3 AM and had trouble getting back to sleep. Nothing new there really, as insomnia is something that I have been battling since my diagnosis. I felt very wobbly, dizzy, woozy, and punch drunk….all at the same time! I was also quite nauseated that morning. I rolled around until about 5 AM and then decided that maybe a walk might help to straighten things out. I ended up taking a Compazine and walking about 3 miles that morning. Lo and behold, it did the trick! I felt better for the rest of the day and ended up having a really decent day after that. The best part of the day was making refrigerator dill pickles with Jane, as they are a favorite of mine.

Yesterday was not such a great day. The high dose Prednisone that I am taking just wreaks havoc with my body in the days following my chemo treatments. I am taking 160 milligrams of it twice a day, and that is a boatload. I know I’m a larger boat, but still! I am very puffy through the face, abdomen, and ankles primarily. I can tell that my blood pressure is up from it as well. I’m hoping that it will clear from my body fairly efficiently so that I can get back to a quasi-normal feeling. Right now just picture one of those Macy’s Day Parade floats and you’ll know exactly how I feel right about now in terms of my body. I know that it doesn’t matter to people how I look and all, and that people generally wouldn’t even notice. However, I do notice and that is the part that is frustrating. I worked hard to lose 75 pounds before my diagnosis, and now feel like I appear even heavier than when I started. Reality and perception. Distinguishing between them is so important, yet so hard to do.

The side effects also started to come back yesterday. As I sit here this morning at 3:30 AM (see: Insomnia) I am experiencing a lot of burning and tingling in my fingers again. This time though the feeling is also affecting my left lower calf, ankle, and foot. I have a hard time actually sensing when my foot touches the floor when I have my eyes closed. I think that the Vincristine is probably going to have to be backed off a bit during the next round. This is one side effect we were watching for and are concerned about getting too far along. I am also starting to get the sore TMJ joints again, along with cramping in my jaw muscles. The salivary pain hasn’t returned, thankfully…yet! A hoarse voice and some nausea are present right now, and my energy level is decent. I do get very tired during the afternoon though, more from not sleeping than from the effects of the chemo.

This morning I will be going to Wild Rose Hospital to get my blood drawn for the first time since I started (and ended) the second round of chemo. I am interested to see where my blood counts are this morning. I have started the Neupogen injections again for this cycle, having done two of them so far. I had a fair amount of discomfort last evening that I attributed to the Neupogen as it does its thing in my bone marrow.

I want to give a shout out to my first cousin once removed, Ariel Olson. She traveled out to California with a challenge team from Wisconsin to do a half-marathon, raising money to help cure Crohn’s Disease and Colitis. In her true-to-form sweetness she remembered me by wearing a ribbon with my name on it during the race. It was a touching gesture to me, and a great accomplishment for her to finish the race . Thank you Ari! I love you!

I hope that everyone is able to have a great week. Take care all!