So, I breezed through Cycle 5 of Esc. BEACOPP. I like to think that the less cancerous cells that we have in our body, the easier that the chemo becomes, but I’m probably totally making this up! I want to share with you guys a few basic tricks that helped me more so during this chemo, than any other! Obviously it helped to have my mom and one of my friends Chiara there, but here it goes!
- Before you go into chemo, about an hour before..take your nausea medication. I prefer Compazine (only thing that has helped me). It doesn’t matter if you’re still getting zofran (I don’t think? But don’t quote me on that one lol) still take it! Walking into CTU makes me legitimately nauseas. Looking at the nasty food and even bottled water makes me want to vomit. To this day, I can’t drink the Dasani that they serve at CTU. Megan I know you’re laughing reading this because it’s so true! So take your premed. Then, when you’re getting your chemo, still ask for Zofran IV AND Ativan. I’m not kidding you when I tell you that the #1 off label use of Ativan is for chemo nausea. If I don’t get it in my cocktail, I will single handedly throw up on every person in CTU, and it will not be pretty.
- I bring 1 large Gatorade with me (I like the blue flavor!), and a minimum of 1.5 Liters of bottled water (Fiji obvi! No, but I love it. Sometimes I’ll switch it up with Smart Water though.) I try to chug these during my time in CTU, and do so..successfully, since I know how much of a pain it is to even get water down afterward. I have another theory that if you pee out all of the chemo during and after CTU, your side effects will be way less worse. So do that! And munch on some crackers. Don’t eat anything you enjoy eating, I made that mistake, now I associate my favorite foods with chemo. So now I bring things I don’t really care if I’ll ever have to see or eat again, like rice cakes for example. Bye!
- So don’t forget to drink your fluids! Pee all of those toxins out! Keep drinking as much water as you can through out the day, including a minimum of one Gatorade per day, but it’s critical that you do so ALSO while in chemo.
- Continue taking your nausea meds (I’ll take compazine every 6 hours) even if you’re not nauseas, to prevent it from occurring.
- Most people have to take Prednisone during their cycles and it’s the devil. I’m on 65mg a day for 14 days, so you can imagine how wired I get. I take two Benadryl in order to fall asleep about 45 minutes before bed time. Trust me, this helps.
- I’m also Neutropenic EVERY single cycle. I always follow the rules while Neutropenic regardless of what my mother thinks 🙂 and I can’t stress enough how important it is to follow these guidelines. You probably know the drill, no fresh fruit or veggies, make sure everything is cooked, nothing with bacteria, nothing raw. One of my residents told me that 50% of people end up in the hospital because of Neutropenia. Wash your hands. Stay away from anyone sick. Wear a mask if you must venture out. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Seriously, if the wrong person even breathes on you, you’re S.O.L. Take your temperature often, and go to the ER if it’s 100.3 or higher. INFECTION kills patients, not chemo, and you have a long life ahead of yourself that you need to LIVE!
That is all for now. Keep fighting, it may seem like the beginning, but it’s almost over!
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