Straight out of Chemotherapy
During my first cycle of chemo, I had no idea what was going on. I was half sedated for it, and really didn’t get a true glimpse of what it was all about, until the second cycle, when the true horror story began. Once I was able to manage my side effects, I was fine.
While the rest of the girls in my city are worried about which snap chat filter to use, one of my girlfriend’s with Leukemia is admitted to the hospital because she is septic. Let’s talk about the reality of being a cancer patient.
Yesterday, I started chemo again, after being off of it for 2.5 months. This is like starting chemo all over again, pretty much. The whole 9 yards, including running my hands through my newly grown hair, and watching it all fall out. The anxiety kicks in and you have flash backs of sitting on the couch with a bucket next to you, waiting to see if you’re going to vomit or not. And then there is prednisone, which is another monster of its own. Prednisone isn’t called Satan’s tic tacs for no reason. So I was mentally preparing myself to not be able to sleep and be wide awake for days, nauseas. Living in limbo of whether or not these next two cycles are going to work, so I can continue on with my life. Or whether or not I’m going to have to get a SCT.
Like I always so, everyone reacts to chemo differently. So, I’m going to tell you step by step what worked for me. I now associate the food and water served at chemo with nausea, so I brought my own, including my own water. Before heading into chemo, I took 1 compazine. My pre meds obviously included anti nausea medications, and I requested Ativan too, which helps A LOT with the anticipated chemo nausea and the nausea itself. I swear by this! So, during chemo, I munched on a bunch of ritz crackers, and rice cakes. I brought the largest gatoraid that I could find, to stay hydrated, and 1 liter of spring water. Staying hydrated is key, so that you can flush out all of the toxins. When I got home, I took another compazine, and every 6 hours from there on, drank a ton of water, and I was fine! Day 1 of each cycle is usually the worst for me. Bananas help a lot with nausea also. If you can’t sleep, take Benadryl, it will knock you out. Hope this helps, and I will keep you guys posted on any other helpful tips I find a long the way!
Cycle 5!
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