I Am Bubble Boy

I'm four days removed from my first chemotherapy treatment. I'm told that I'm getting a light dose of chemo and it's enough to make me want to puke--literally and figuratively. I didn't know much about chemo before this and I still don't really know a whole lot. But what I do know is that there are a lot of people out there who get much larger doses than I do and it that is just beyond me. For example, I get chemo treatments once every three weeks with each treatment consisting of 2 hours of fluids, then 1 hour of chemo, followed by another two hours of fluids. That's it...I don't have to come in the next day or anything. I just need to make sure that I follow the directions of the doctor. Compare that with a guy I know who as a child went in 4 days a week for treatment and then got two weeks off. Honestly, I just cannot imagine. Of course, there are many different types of chemo out there and each one has its own risks and benefits, but chemo is chemo in my opinion.

The side effects are no joke. Before I even went into the hospital for my chemo, I filled all the anti-nausea prescriptions that they gave me. Ever since Tuesday night, my stomach has been feeling woozy and that is with the anti-nausea medications. I can't imagine what it would be like without the medicine! Aside from nausea, there is this constant feeling of acid reflux that just won't go away. In some ways, this is more uncomfortable than the nausea, believe it or not. The problem is that at night it makes it very hard to sleep and usually I'll get up 4-6 times throughout the night just because I can't sleep. So then I prop up the pillows and usually try my best to sleep upright so that things in my gastrointestinal tract get settled down. Needless to say, however, the changes in sleep habits makes me tired during the day. Not the kind of tiredness that would be characterized by fatigue, but just general sleepiness.

From what the doctors and nurses tell me, it's quite important for me to stay active just to make sure that my body stays functioning correctly. So with that in mind, I'm happy to report that including Tuesday, I've done some kind of exercise every day this week. Usually it's a three-mile run/walk or a one-hour ride on a stationary bike. Usually the hardest part is getting started and once I get going things really get back to normal for me, except that I don't push myself very hard.

The hardest part about all of the chemo is the adjustments in lifestyle. There are a lot of little things that we take for granted that I can't take for granted any longer. For example, because of my reduced ability to fight off infection due to my lower blood cell counts, I am unable to eat anything raw--including fruits and vegetables. The exception to this would be fruits with a heavy peel like a cantaloupe or banana. Basically, everything must be cooked to make sure that all the potential bacteria are killed off. Also, I need to be careful to not cut myself because my platelet count is also low and that makes it hard for blood to clot. I also carry hand sanitizer around with me everywhere I go so that after touching doorknobs and stuff, I can't clean up without having a faucet around. Yup, I'm turning into obsessive-compulsive disorder guy.

So things are progressing along as nicely as I could hope for, I suppose. I'm about 25% of the way through my radiation treatment now, which is surprising. And if I have three total chemo treatments, then I'm 33% done with that, too. It's a marathon, but I've embraced the idea of tunnel vision and I'm taking everything one day at a time because that is all that one can do.