My entourage and I (Lisa, Jenn, Liss, and later, Tillie!) trouped into the treatment room. We all hung out and chatted while the nausea meds sunk in, and then I was whisked away to have an acupuncture treatment (my first) while the Cytoxan dripped. It was interesting and quite relaxing. And, best of all, I think it helped the nausea. So most of this treatment was spent lying on my back, listening to YoYo Ma while serving as a pin-cushion for Deb, my multiple-tattooed, Converse-clad acupuncturist. After getting all the goods, I received my prescriptions for a wig and medical marijuana, and dashed away to the airport, and back to LA.
This time Garrett gave me some new nausea medications, and they worked pretty darn well. The post-chemo period was less severe this time around -- just a general feeling of icky-ness for a few days, some rough headaches, and a lot of lying around and sleeping and eating applesauce and saltines. Had I not decided to leap into the car and cruise to Santa Monica to go wig-shopping on Friday morning, I would have managed to go the entire time with no nausea at all! But alas, silly me, I overestimated my abilities and was rewarded with two hours of stomach-churning in the car. Still, all in all, I give this chemo-recovery-period a 7 out of 10.
So, new developments this time around:
-Less nausea, but still very tired and feeling weak and icky and puny for several days (including today, my first day back at work)
-Medical marijuana, which, to be perfectly honest, was exciting to purchase but really doesn't seem to have much of an effect on me. (It has been suggested that I sell it instead, and use the proceeds to finance my plane trips around the country!) Ah, well. The buying was fun (see photo below).
-The hair is starting to go, folks. I noticed it Thursday night when I took a shower. (And yes, I did take pictures of all of the hair in the bathtub drain, but I have been informed that the photo is "gross," so I won't post it here. If you are morbidly fascinated and you'd like to see it, email me.) But, fortunately, I have a TON of thick hair, and as it's not actually falling out in clumps yet, I'm going to try to hang on to it for another week or so!
-The wig has been purchased, as have the clippers. I am ready. Bring on the baldness.
-I'm beginning to think that chemo ruins my ability to detect hunger for several days post-treatment. My stomach feels yucky and growly and doesn't say "I'm hungry" at all, but when I tentatively feed it some crackers, it says "Yum!" Very weird.
That's all I got for the moment. More soon...