The Boring Side of Cancer

Every day I get just the slightest hint that I might have poison racing through my veins. But it’s still just a passing thought and not physically overwhelming. It usually happens in the middle-of-the-night as various drugs are winding down. Each morning, I take my prescribed medications and feel right as rain again. I’m still on enough drugs that mask side-effects that I can pretend it’s not happening. Over the next couple of days though, my drug therapy changes a bit and I expect I’ll be a little less casual about it all.

I took my last dose of the mega-anti-nausea pill today – Emend. I received it intravenously while receiving chemotherapy, and was given one mega dose to take for yesterday and today. Additionally, my prednisone ends on Tuesday. A lot of people have issues tolerating the steroids. For me, they are like energy in a pill. On them I’m like the energizer bunny. I will miss them. From my research, this upcoming week may be a time when I’m going to feel particularly tired and run-down.

So while I still have the luxury of these two amazing drugs, I’m braving the mall today to go to a wig store! I’m thinking red! But we shall see. Robbie needs to get new contact lenses anyways, so we’ll knock a couple of things out at once. I have heard anything from ten days to four weeks with regard to when I’m going to lose my hair. It’s the middle of winter, so I need to be prepared!

Tomorrow I have to go to the oncology center to get a shot of Neulasta. This is a white cell booster that helps protect me against complications of a low white blood cell count. This will decrease my chance of infection. I have read horror stories about the side effects of Neulasta. Because white blood cells are produced in your bone marrow, many people experience “mild-to-moderate bone pain” from all the extra activity. I have read blogs from patients who spend a day writhing from the pain. Other people tolerate it just fine. If my blog becomes riddled with profanity and whining, you know which one I am! I did read several discussions that Claritin (the OTC allergy medication) can alleviate the pain. You know I went out yesterday and stocked up.

In other news, I am almost certain the tumor in my neck is shrinking. This is not unusual with my type of lymphoma. In fact, if things go as planned, a majority of the treatment I go through will be to prevent recurrences. The cancer itself gets kicked pretty quickly.

That’s about it for today. This is proof that even cancer has boring days. And I’m ok with that. A shout out and huge thank you to Frank (one of my bosses) for the lovely yellow and pink roses that are brightening my house on an incredibly dreary morning. I think I had previously posted that I couldn’t have cut flowers – it’s ok, checked with the nurse and she said go for it!