Sunday, March 06, 2016

Catching up - Cycle 5 and 6

I haven't posted for awhile.  I don't know where the time goes.  However between running to appointments and blood tests and chemo, the time has just flown by.  I don't get much accomplished lately.

Cycle 5:

I started a set of new drugs on January 25th.  There are usually no nausea effects and I'm not required to take Neupogen or my anti-nausea drugs from cycle 5 on.  I'm taking new drugs for cycles 5 thru 8   Side effects range from joint and nerve pain, insomnia, gastrointestinal issues, and of course my friend, fatigue.  Days 2 thru 5 became progressvely more painful;   I could feel my muscles and joints seizing up - they felt like they were turning to cement.  And then the nerve pain began and became progessively worse for 4 days.  The balls of my feet were very painful and I almost felt weak.  I walked like someone 100 years old.

Generally speaking I would say that I have a high tolerance for pain, however this was worse than anything I've ever experienced.  The nerve pain caused throbbing pain almost like what you'd have with a very bad toothache or a migraine.  I took Tylenol extra strength, T3's and 1200 mg of Ibupropen several times a day.  Very little relief from any of them!  It was brutal! I spent most of the time on the chesterfield trying to get comfortable.  I finally retreated to my bed for a day and a half. Not much fun.  I finally turned a corner late on day 4 and felt much better by bedtime on day 5. The remaining 2 weeks of the cycle were fine, other than fatigue which comes and goes throughout the days.

Cycle 6:

This cycle began on Feb 16th and was pretty much a repeat of cycle 5.  I tried to get ahead of the pain by taking Tylenol, T3's and/or Ibruprophen on day 2 before the pain started however that didn't seem to have much effect.  Again by the end of those few days I had retreated to my bed where I could get more comfortable.  The pain lasted a day longer this time and I didn't seem to bounce back quite as quickly in this round.  However once recovered from the side-effects, I felt good and was able to 
get out a do a few things.  






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