Treatment #2: Better Managed than the Last One

Today is Day #12 from my second treatment on June 24th and now that I’ve made it over the main hump, I figure it’s a good time for an update.

Overall, this round of treatment I was much more prepared for the side effects. I had a plan and for the most part that plan helped me manage my symptoms, keep from over-taxing myself, and rest when I was able.

Monday 6.24 — Infusion Day

Followed my regular infusion day routine; I packed my chemo bag and overnight bag to stay at my parents’ house for the week. I also had to bring my wedge pillow - an absolutely necessary part of my setup for sleeping.

Tuesday 6.25 through Thursday 6.27 - Day 2 -4

These are my steroid days, which means I try to stay indoors, maintain a minimal energy lifestyle, and rest as much as I can. I will say that I’m so glad that I have the opportunity to work from home; it does allow me the flexibility to take breaks when I need to while still working like I need to in order to support my family.

Friday 6.28 - Day 5

By the time I reached day 5, I was feeling about 50 percent better than at this same time in my first time around. I was feeling good enough to go do a little shopping for some new clothing. I did make sure I took some extra time to rest as I was having visitors over the weekend. But more on that in a minute.

As far as symptoms were concerned, there continued to be quite a few stomach-related issues. In discussing with my doctor, it’s not uncommon to have tummy troubles although I seem to have more than most. Once I was able to get the heartburn and acid more controlled, the tummy issues seemed to be my only other primary symptom. In talking to my doctor, we changed which acid reducer I use and how frequently. Previously, I was only taking the acid reducer at night before bed, only effective about 50% of the time. To my medication protocol, I started taking Pepcid in the morning on an empty stomach and in the evening. This allowed me to better control the acid and heartburn all throughout the day as opposed to only at night. Keeping the total amount of acid in my system low, while it didn’t completely get rid of the issues, it did reduce how much acid I was dealing with overall. Of course, for emergency relief, I kept Tums and Pepto handy. All of these things seemed to do the trick in keeping me more comfortable overall, less grumpy, and able to be functional. Overall, this treatment this time was much more manageable, and I felt like I got back to “normal” much more quickly than before - overall, a positive development.

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So back to my visitors this weekend! A few months ago, my cousins decided to come visit me for a quick overnight stay. I’ve honestly been looking forward to it for months! While it was just a short trip, it was so much fun - we went to my favorite hot pot place, got comfy in our PJs, and spent the evening catching up on each other's lives. I definitely learned a lot about my cousins that I never knew because many of my cousins are older than me. So when I was growing up, many of my cousins were already in high school and college.

Oh, you may also notice that I cut my hair. It was a difficult experience - I think that I scared the hairstylist when I started crying in salon - but I'm glad that I went ahead and moved forward with cutting it off. Fully knowing that the hair is going to fall out quickly, the short hair was a good transition before I opted to shave it off completely earlier this week.

Anyway overall, it was a really good treatment week, and hopefully, the further I get down this path, the more routine this becomes.

Talk again soon!

OLIVIA