When it hits ya…

…or when post-infusion knocks you on your ass.

Going to start with the usual. You may want to skip this one if you are sensitive or skittish when reading about medical things.

I will go into detail about the five days after my infusion. It wasn’t pretty.

You have been warned.

Every three weeks, I return to the University of Minnesota’s Cancer Lodge to receive an infusion of two chemo drugs and one immuno-therapy drug. This means I get to spend up to 7 hours trying to keep my mind busy while intermittently dozing off and running to the bathroom more times than Usain Bolt trains in a week. After the infusion comes the five days when everything goes to shit.

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DAY 1

You would think I would be ready and rarin’ to go but keep in mind, at least in my opinion, chemo is low-grade radiation poisoning. So, my brain is muffled and fuzzy. I want to do things. I know I HAVE things to do, but my brain isn’t with it.
The energy wasn’t there either, and for the first time, my legs were echoing the sentiment. They were wobbly, and I needed help getting in and out of the truck.
I was barely eating, but I didn’t realize that until a few days later.
So, I was taking a lot of naps.

DAY 2

This is the second day of me having a brain in neutral. My ADD didn’t even help. I would sit in the front seat and just stare out of the windshield without a single cohesive thought. I would doze off only to have my husband rub my arm and tell me to go lie down.
I barely ate this day as well and didn’t even take time to think about the fact that might be an issue.
All I wanted to do was sleep. Not good.

DAY 3

The Paciltaxil (Second chemo drug) decided this would be a good day to screw with my right leg. It made my hip, ankle, and shin sore. I was beginning to realize I really hadn’t eaten anything which led to another problem.
I hadn’t gone to the bathroom. My intestines had gone on strike. This would last until day 5. LOVE that for me.
I started to snack a little more and think about eating actual meals.
I AM supposed to be eating a carb-light, protein-heavy diet. I haven’t done that this time around, and I am really feeling it.
I ate biscuits and gravy in hopes the milk would trigger my lactose intolerance and my intestines would stage a mas evac. Nope.

DAY 4

My intestines are on strike for day two which doesn’t help the sluggish feeling, but now I am fighting with the Pacil and coming to my senses as to why I have been feeling like a used rag.
My brain now has something to focus on and that’s my diet. Yeah, it took three darn days. I told you this week was fucky.
I am starting to burp everything I eat. So, that’s a thing. Indigestion is SO much fun.

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Break… My doctor had to prescribe me a blood pressure medicine because they couldn’t get it down before the infusion. Guess what raises the blood pressure? The Immuno-therapy drug. Ain’t that a hoot? I thought it was. *eye roll*
They really gotta come up with better treatments.

Back to the daily thingy…

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DAY 5 I SAID FUCK IT

We resorted to the one thing the chemo hates, fried and greasy food. Yup, ever since I started the FIRST round of chemo last year, my body has immediately gotten rid of anything really greasy or fried that I tried to ingest.
We WERE at a truck stop. So, I ate a patty melt and fries.
Little did I know the dam would break at 3 in the morning.
Break it did.

I managed one blog post and an upload. I was making progress.

DAY 6

Now, my intestines have become overachievers and everything I eat they feel the need to evac. That’s an absolute rollercoaster when you have a place to stay. It means hitting every bathroom when your husband stops on the road.
I added a second iron pill to help with that. 🙂

This was the first day I made all the meals in the truck with the exception of breakfast and did some more editing.

My energy was doing great until the evening when my spoons ran out, and I found myself doing the undead shuffle to the bathroom of the truck stop.
I slept fairly well though. There’s that.

Today, I am at about 9 spoons and feeling productive. I am still burping everything I eat but it’s better than chemo farts which can clear a room in no time flat.

Until next time.
Anissa “Maddy” Walker

P.S.
Thank you for all your support thus far. We have been able to pay off one bill and are now working on a second one.

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