After the IVs were removed and the Neulasta self-injecting device was taped to my body, I was given prescriptions for nausea, and some excellent advice about remedies that would hopefully preserve my nails during chemotherapy. With all the frightful scripts playing in my head, nail damage was something I hadn’t considered.

On the way home, Carmen and I stopped at the drugstore to fill the prescription and buy some of the remedies the nurses recommended, which I will mention in a later post. I felt fine, a little tired perhaps, but I think it was more emotional fatigue that I felt that first day, than anything else.

Although my dogs are always welcoming, I wondered if they would take note of the the toxins I had been subjected to, as if I reeked of poisons….., but of course, neither of them did.

The first evening I was quite fine, and happy to have Carmen and my family there to distract me. Knowing that the chemo would start to take its effect, I remember being frightened before I went to sleep that night. I worried that something ominous would happen while I slept, and I fretted about what the morning would be like.

The next day was the beginning of a slow decent into a miserable malaise that truly didn’t subside for five days.

The Neulasta device started to make a clicking sound at the 37th hour, and delivered a little snap when the cannula was inserted under my skin, that felt like the snap of a rubber band, over so fast that it was not an issue. After waiting in stillness for the thirty minutes it took for the device to empty, I peeled it off my skin once the meter read “Empty,” and discarded it as instructed. By then, I was glad I didn’t have to go back to the infusion center for a shot of the medication that this device injected automatically.

I wasn’t hungry at all, but I took the medication for nausea before I had a chance to become nauseated, since it is easier to prevent, than cure, but food started to taste peculiar. For some reason, pears and kiwi fruit were the only foods I wanted, but certain vegetable dishes were tolerable, although most foods started to taste like wet cardboard.

These five days, I slept a lot, but every day I showered, and although someone else walked the dogs, I made an effort to go out side, although some days I didn’t get further than to a patio chair.

Any effort became laborious, and I felt short of breath with very little exertion. As the physical symptoms started to subside by the fourth day, I was still left in a mental fog that lasted another full day, making something as simple as lifting a tea cup an activity to ponder.

What weighed as heavy on my mind as chemo, was being in a situation of needing it. More than ever before, my thoughts drifted to lifestyle choices, and food as medicine…..

Tips: Stock up on easy to prepare foods. Stay hydrated. Tidy up so you have a comfy home to come home to after chemo, and try not to have a huge “to do list” that needs attention during that week. Make an effort to maintain good hygiene, and get some fresh air. Most of all, try not to fret.

Next Entry..coming soon!