Post-chemo update

It's been just over 72 hours since my first chemo treatment, and I must say I feel fairly crappy.  It's not anything unexpected, but crappy nonetheless.  Mostly, I'm very tired and I have a pretty much consistent headache that goes from really bad to just vaguely there.  Luckily, thanks to really good anti-nausea meds, I'm not really nauseous, but I don't have much of an appetite.  I was told that my tastes may change, and I have noticed that a bit.  My drink of choice, Orange Vitamin Water Zero, which I used to drink all the time, doesn't taste good to me anymore.  I guess my ability to taste sweet is reduced or different or something, so it just tastes kind of salty now.  Yuck.  Luckily, water is tasting pretty good, which is good since that's what I'm supposed to be drinking to flush the chemo out of my system.

For those who were wondering, my hair hasn't fallen out yet, much to Calla's surprise.  It takes 1 - 2 weeks to fall out, so I figure I still probably have until next weekend.  I really don't want to deal with all of the hair everywhere, so I'm thinking Aris can shave my head as part of a special Valentine's weekend.

I ended up deciding to work from home instead of using most of my energy to go into work on Thursday, which I think was a good decision since I got through almost all of my emails since Monday.  I also nodded off on the couch numerous times, which would have been awkward at work.  That afternoon I had to go into to the Cancer Center to get my Neulasta shot, which was fairly simple and easy.  So my first day post-chemo wasn't very good, but it wasn't terrible either.

On Friday, I woke up feeling worse.  Mainly, I couldn't get out of bed for several hours and my head was throbbing.  I'm not sleeping great...I can't seem to stay asleep more than 3-4 hours straight, but I also can't stay awake for long periods of time.  It's kind of annoying.  Honestly, though, I don't really care as much about being tired if my head would just stop hurting.  I'm managing it with Advil and Excedrin Migraine, which is having mixed results.

This morning was honestly a little rough in our house, as I was feeling pretty crappy, Calla was being hyper, and Aris was at the end of his rope.  Luckily, reinforcements have arrived in the form of grandparents to entertain Calla.  My biggest fear at this point is whether I'll be ready to go back to work on Monday morning.  I want to have a "normal" week next week, but I don't know if I'll be physically able.  

Actually, that's my biggest short-term fear.  My biggest long-fear is that I have to have SEVEN more chemo treatments.  And apparently the chemo treatments have a cumulative effect, so each one gets worse. I really hope that doesn't end up being true, but I guess I'll find out.