As usual I am feeling queasiest yesterday and today. This morning I did not feel immediately like breakfast. I drank water and orange juice and a while later headed out to a local café for breakfast as diversionary therapy. Bought a Daily Telegraph newspaper on the way and ordered Eggs Benedict and a cup of English Breakfast tea. The tea came fast but about twenty minutes later no Eggs Benedict! So, I asked where they were and they started cooking them. My order was forgotten. Meanwhile I read the paper and began the crossword puzzles once breakfast arrived. Came home an hour or so later having done an anagram puzzle and three of the five crosswords; feeling suitably diverted.
Thus, now its time to write the chemo round 7 blog entry. Last week was a wonderful family high and so I entered chemo round 7 feeling really good. As usual, the Monday chemo went smoothly and I felt queasiest on the Wednesday afternoon, when the chemo bottle was removed.
I continue with only mild side effects – John Tully’s prayer of minimising the bad effects and maximising the good effects continues to be answered. I am grateful for this. My side effects, in order of nuisance value are:
- queasiness, especially on the chemo third day and day after – had no queasiness for last two or three days before this round of chemo
- a slight rash on my torso that has been around for a couple of months now – no itchiness and have not mentioned it before
- tingling in my fingers from being cold or when I touch cold things – always worst at chemo time
- occasional and infrequent hiccups during a chemo round – taking a Nexium tablet nightly keeps them at bay
- a mouth ulcer (I think) between latest chemo rounds – cleared up with twice daily mouth rinsing with bi-carb soda that I have been doing since starting chemo
- a pinkish face at times during the chemo time and especially after my shower this morning but colour was back to normal by the time I went out for my diversionary breakfast
Please remember my side effects are minimal. In fact, on the third day of chemo rounds 6 and 7 I have not taken the Kytril anti nausea tablets. Dr Lisa suggested that I not take them as I was coping well with the chemo and this would reduce the potential constipation effect from the tablets. So, that is good but is also probably part of the reason for noticing the queasiness more yesterday and today. Overall, it is a small price to pay for taking less medicine.
One of my tactics during chemo time is to shower on the Monday and then next on the Thursday and wear the same clothes over those days. Why? Because: it is a nuisance to waterproof the connection from the chemo bottle into my port-o-cath. So, I avoid the problem. A little underarm deodorant on the third day means I still smell OK. Wearing the same clothes saves washing. I make myself look like I have different clothes when I go to get the bottle removed by wearing a different jumper (sweater) or jacket. Don’t know whether this fools the nurses or not.
Bound thesis
Our daughter picked up official bound copies of her PhD thesis this morning from the printer. She came home with them and presented us with one. We are very proud parents and honoured to have our own copy.
A poem a day
As mentioned in my previous blog entry, Terry Barker is sending me a poem nearly every day. He has given me permission to quote his poems. You can find out more about Terry at his website www.lastchancethislife.com
Here is a recently sent poem about time and its preciousness:
Kipling’s Advice
I saw a man at the Farmers Market today.
He was sort of drifting between booths.
He looked lonely.
I said, Hi, how’s it going?
He said, Oh, I’m just killing time.
Killing time!
God! What must it be like
To have so much time in your life’s bank
That you can afford to kill it!
How I envied him,
So rich with hours and days and unspent years
While I hoard the few I have left
In the safety deposit box of my soul.
Kipling understood this.
He told us to
Fill each unforgiving minute full
Of sixty seconds worth of distance run.
I think he meant that we must taste
The chocolate and honey of each minute
With lust and gratitude.
Don’t waste a minute, I told the lonely man
At the Farmers Market.
You’re bland as celery.
Wake up!
When you eat a potato chip, say in your mind
I’m eating a potato chip!
It’s delicious! It’s splendid!
Turn up your pilot light!
Don’t let sawdust smother you!
Pounce on your life like a tiger!
Throttle it!
For God’s sake, get nifty!
I wish I could say that he smiled
And took my advice,
But he looked at me askance
And muttered something
And dwindled away between the booths.
Oh well, I thought, maybe next time
But then I got to thinking about what’s for dinner,
And what I was going to do on Monday,
And did she really love me
And the next thing I knew I had left the Market
And I couldn’t remember what I had seen
Or who I talked to
Or what I’d said
I am still eating a packet of Smith’s salt and vinegar crisps nearly every day. So, I indentify with Terry’s sentiments about chips.
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