Chemo

It's been a while since my last post, mostly because I've felt like crap. Let me count the ways!

Nausea. Yes, there's been some nausea, but it hasn't been too bad. It started for real about two days after the chemo treatment, and lasted for maybe three or four days in declining potency. I only threw up a few times in total, but I spent a few days thinking I was going to throw up. Still, the yellow pills provided seemed to help, and I can't say that nausea was ever much of a problem.

Chemo Pain. Yes, there was a lot of that. The chemotherapy stopped my digestive tract dead in its tracts. I don't want to dwell on this in any detail, for the details are horrid, but suffice it to say that about a week after my chemo treatment I developed a most painful sort of intestinal impaction. Heavy use of laxatives finally brought relief to this problem, but only after a few days of significant pain.

Cancer Pain. Once the chemo pain let up, it was time for the cancer pain to start up again, that horrid pain in my side, lower back, hip and leg that I had just before my first chemo treatment. The treatment for this pain is more chemo, which happens on Wednesday, but for now I can do nothing about this pain save take lots of pills and scowl a lot.

Right now I don't feel too bad, but that's mostly because I've beaten the pain back with four Tylenol and the trailing edge of a Percocet. I decided to post a brief update while I felt halfway decent, because halfway-decent states don't last long.

So, what have we learned? Mainly, that one neglects the digestive tract at one's own peril. And that lymphoma sucks. But Wednesday I'll get a fresh dose, and I fully expect for things to get better. We now know what to expect and how to treat the digestive issues, and I think the chemo will help with the cancer pain. So my main strategy at this point is to stick it out till Wednesday.