Caution: Cancer Chemotherapy

First off I want to thank everyone for their love and support, I have been overwhelmed by all the amazing people in my life. And I want to apologize for starting this blog and then going silent.

Since starting this blog I have had 2 chemo treatments, as the chemo bags say " Caution", it's no joke. There are all kinds of chemo out there and different treatment schedules, and the one thing I have heard the most is that it effects everyone differently. 

You have to attend a chemo class first where they talk about side-effects and things to keep in mind while going through it. I also went out and read 4 books to prepare. Side-effects could include: nausea, metallic taste, fatigue, mouth sores, hair loss, more susceptible for sickness and infections, some memory challenges "chemo brain", and from the shot I get the day after bone pain.

All of it sounds like a lot of fun and I can assure you it is not! After Chemo for about 2-3 days I feel nauseous, luckily they give you medicine to help with that so it's not too bad. Overall I just feel weird and gross for the first few days. The day after chemo I get a shot to increase my blood cell count and quicken the cycle so I can go every 2 weeks, that causes bone pain. Kind of a weird sensation, a bit similar to the aches and pains of a flu but a bit more severe. I can take aleve which helps alleviate some of the bone pain. Then the fatigue sets in and it's hard to do much.

In a 2 week cycle, I feel sick for about a week and then feel ok for the second week. At least that is how the first cycle went. More on my second cycle in the next post.