It is weird how quickly you become accustomed to a new way of life. Three months ago, if I had some of the symptoms I now brush off like they are nothing, I would think something was incredibly wrong with me. Once you have the dreaded diagnosis (cancer), everything else seems so trivial.
I sure am glad they start you off with the chemotherapy nicknamed the red devil (AC), because after that, anything seems easy. It is funny to read blogs and/or discussion posts about chemo because you can tell from people’s discussion of symptoms which chemo they started with. For instance, on a discussion board about Taxol, one woman was flabbergasted that she lost ALL of her hair on her entire body and that her fingers were tingling! Those symptoms were the least of my worries while going through AC treatment. The next woman was like, this is a breeze compared to AC! I am already bald and my nausea is gone!! I can finally get back to a normal life!
The latter is how I feel. After perpetual nausea for about 2 months and the myriad of symptoms caused by all the drugs you have to take to keep the nausea at bay, this first cycle of Taxol felt amazing. I know I shouldn’t get too hopeful because it is known to have a cumulative effect and symptoms will likely get worse as the treatments progress, but I will take it for now! I felt well enough to clean the kitchen top to bottom today and even scrubbed the floors which I have been meaning to do for quite some time since it is spring time and we have two dogs who like to track in mud and dirt. I am hoping I can get back to exercising a bit and eating a healthier diet now that I don’t feel like puking all the time and smells are no longer driving me insane.
Ending on a positive note, I have tried to come up with a list of the positive side effects of chemo in my experience. Here goes:
No menstrual periods
No more adult acne
Don't have to shave
Save loads of money on hair products
Ok, that's all I can think of at the moment.