Half way done with the last long week

We embarked on Chris's 3rd and final cycle on Monday. He is now officially halfway through this long week. He has chemo 5 days this week and a neulasta shot on Saturday.  However, Friday will mark the end of this awful week and the rest is downhill! One shot on June 17 and one on the 24th. That's it!! Chris asked the nurse to schedule him for a doctor appointment as soon as treatment is done so that he can get his port removed.  The port and the awful taste in his mouth have probably been his two biggest complaints. He is ready to get that thing out!

Most of you are wondering how Chris is feeling this week. So, here's a quick summary: Monday wasn't great. Chris was sleep deprived and had done a lot of yardwork on Sunday. Those things combined produced a less than stellar Monday morning. He felt a little better by the end of the day due to the anti-nausea meds given to him during treatment.  Tuesday was great. He had a restful night of sleep the evening before and woke up refreshed. He visited for a couple hours with my brother who was awesome and brought Chris and I pizza.  As is the norm for Chris these days, he gave Brian very specific order "suggestions." :) that brings us to today. The morning was rough. Chris felt hot (no fever, thankfully!) and nauseous.  He hurried to check some things off of his to-do list so that he could nap.  My preference would be for Chris to relax and rest all day, but that is not my husband. I expect that his computer will be coming out soon and he will be getting back to work.

Counting down......

Katie

Kinda like a Pregnant lady

Chris spent most of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in bed unable to do much of anything.  On Thursday, he got up and started his day as normal (just a little slower). He worked all day Thursday and Friday and was starting to feel much better.  He may have overdone it, because by noon on Saturday he started feeling lousy again. The rest of the weekend was spent on the couch or in bed.  I don't want to draw an inaccurate picture. Chris wasn't so ill that he had a fever or extreme nausea and vomiting. He just felt nauseous and had a headache. He was tired.  His biggest complaint has been the metallic taste in his mouth that will not go away. Apparently this is a common chemotherapy side effect that many people experience. For Chris, it never goes away so he spends all day trying to mask it. He is constantly searching for foods and drinks that will cover the horrible taste. He's a little bit like a pregnant woman. I get random texts from him saying things like, "On your way home from the baseball game can you stop and pick up some cookie dough ice cream?  Preferably Ben and Jerry's."  Or, he will order pizza with his brother and eat 1 and 1/2 pizzas on his own before his brother has to tell him he should probably stop.  During one long chemo session, I had to run out to get Chris's truck tires rotated. I got a text.... "Can you pick up 5 roast beef sandwiches, curly fries and a strawberry shake?"  Sure! I'm not going to tell him no!  Fast forward 2 hours when I notice Chris taking short, shallow breaths. I got pretty freaked out because his chemo drugs can cause lung problems. So I asked the nurse to check him. She starts asking questions and Chris says, "oh, by the way, I ate 5 roast beef sandwiches for lunch!"  Long story short....The shallow breaths were from his full stomach impeding his diaphragm from taking deep breaths!  Awesome.  His cravings and aversions change frequently.   After he eats one type of food for awhile, he starts to associate it with the chemo taste and no longer wants it.  So far the following foods and smells have been affected: apple juice, coffee, jello, peppermint, lavender. There's a bunch more but my memory is failing me at this moment.  Anyway, the reason I am writing this long post about Chris's cravings and aversions is that I didn't know anything about this prior to Chris experiencing it. I'm assuming that at least some of you may never have known about this side effect either.  I also know that a lot of you are curious about how chemo is affecting Chris.  Right now, this is probably his biggest complaint.

Tomorrow is another chemo day.  He receives his bleo shot.  We are both dreading it.  The good news?? Only 3 weeks left!!!

Katie