Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Eve of Chemo #2

It's been several days since my last post, so just wanted to update you on how I've been feeling.  Thankfully I'm almost back to normal - digestive issues have been resolved, no nausea, no mouth pain. The only two lingering side effects from the chemotherapy are fatigue and headaches.  Oh, and my scalp has been really tender - no hair loss yet, just a really tender scalp which is weird....

Fatigue
Think about the most tired you've ever been... that's me pretty much how I feel every single evening.  I do ok during the day most days, but I wear out pretty quickly.  And once I wear out... I'm done!  We were at a friend's house over the weekend celebrating Josh's birthday.  After just a couple of hours I got really, really tired - even fell asleep in a chair outside!  If I don't take a nap during the day (which I do most days), I'm usually wiped out by 8:00 p.m. or so.

Headaches
Unfortunately I've been tortured by migraines since I was a teenager.  And it's even more unfortunate that because of this I'm more susceptible to headaches and migraines as a side effect of chemo.  I've had a headache just about every day since chemo #1 over 2 weeks ago :(  Luckily they're not all bad ones - only 3 or 4 of them have been migraines.  I had my migraines managed to about 1 per month before chemo started, so I'm not exactly happy about 3-4 in 2 weeks, but my prescription migraine medicine (Maxalt-MLT) usually does the job pretty well.  I'm only allowed to take Tylenol (no aspirin allowed!) or my prescription, so I often have those dull headaches that last all day.  Lame.

That's about all that's been going on since my last update.  Well, except for a little sore throat over the weekend.  I think I was just fighting off a little cold or something.  It was really sore for a couple of days, but is all better now.

I have to admit I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow.  Now that I feel pretty much back to normal, I'm not ready to do it all over again!  But I know the chemo is working, so I'll keep plugging along!  I'll post a picture tomorrow of the progress - you can see a huge difference in the size of the tumors in my neck, I can't wait to show you!

Love,
Melissa


And because I'm wishing I was on a tropical vacation instead of going through chemo, here's a picture of us from our anniversary cruise just 3 months ago.


3 comments:

  1. Praying this treatment will be a lot better than the last one since you didn't know how your body was going to react last time. I know there are preplanned changes and I'm sure they will help a lot.

    I appreciate you being able to admit that the 2 of you can use help. I wish I was there to help, but I know you have some awesome friends that will lend a hand doing something like mowing, preparing a meal, help clean or whatever. Sometimes people just need to be asked for help. Many of us find it hard to ask. Josh needs some rest too so that he doesn't get sick. Love you! Mom

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  2. Tracey told me that your first chemo treatment is the worst, hope that holds for you as well. After this treatment, you're HALFWAY! Wahoo!!! Love you both.

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  3. Still praying for you. Friend of your Mom's. Karen

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