One Cycle

Today is the last day of my first cycle of Xeloda. Hip, hip, hooray!!! After tonight's dose, I get a week to let my body rest. I can't believe how quickly two weeks passed. I kept waiting for this moment so that, hopefully, I could feel a little more normal again. Maybe I can bake?

The first week was filled with nausea and great fatigue. I just wanted to sleep to forget about the nausea and sleep to sleep.

The second week was a lot better.

Nausea. I kept craving meat. As I filled my stomach with more red meat, the nausea seemed to get better. There were two times when I ate meat and I, literally, felt my eyes brighten. Brighten like Jonathan (King Saul's son), when he ate honey when he didn't know he was not supposed to.  The ginger candy also seems to help. Oh yeah, and I gained 4 pounds. When I find something that I can eat, I stuff my face to get rid of the nausea. Not good.

Morning sickness-likeness. Make sense. Cannot tolerate strong tastes or smells. Right now, I don't even like the smell of rice cooking. Or garlic, cilantro, Korean food, water. Ok, water doesn't have a taste but it reminds me of the meds that I have to take which makes me queasy which makes me want to not drink it even though I have to. I have to pray a lot and psych myself out before I eat.

Fatigue. The fatigue is still with me but it is so much better than dealing with the nausea. There are times when I have to support my head in my hands, slur some words, or not talk at all. I learned that it takes a lot of energy to yell up the stairs for your children to come downstairs, so I don't do it. It also might not help that I keep waking up in the middle of the night. A lot, lot. Don't know why. It just happens. Pray that I can have restful sleep.

Feeling radioactive. Okay, maybe not radioactive, but having extreme hot flashes. They come and they go. It is way worse than my menopause hot flashes. I feel like I am building up in radioactive energy and just might glow in the dark. Maybe I watched too many Avenger cartoons?

Fingers and feet. There is also this thing with my fingers and bottoms of my feet. My fingers and feet get these little "needle-poke-like" feelings when I press on them. It's as if there are little needles all around. You might be saying, "Well, stop pressing on them!" It ain't easy! Living life, you have to press, in order, to open or do anything. Even when I wash my hands, I try not to rub too hard. Also, another reason for my radioactive theory is that my hands and feet are warm. Sometimes hot. This is extremely unusual for a woman who had hands and feet made of ice bricks.

Brown spots. I didn't realize that when you take any type of chemo drug, you have to stay out of the sun. I put on spf and try to stay out of the sun, but there are times when it can't be avoided (in the car). I recently noticed more spotting on my face. Those of you that are young, you'll understand when you're older. Be thankful.

Cold. I am always in fleece or a sweater. I walked out in the 90 degree weather and sighed in relief. It was just right for me. I shudder to think about winter. Oh yeah, I also caught a cold. Don't know how, don't know where, but I have a cold. Last night, we also realized that A2 has a fever and swollen lymph nodes! Please pray!

But, overall, the second week has been so much better. Thank you so much for all of your prayers! I truly feel that God has been answering your prayers for me!