I can’t believe it is a week since I got the first infusion. This week has gone much faster and much better than I thought. The expected nausea has not appeared yet – just a faint queasiness that is lurking in the background ever so often. I have not yet needed to take any anti-nausea medication – what a relief. I do not have diarrhea – yay – quite the opposite in fact – not yay. I am very tired and I can’t do much before I feel exhausted where my heart is pounding, I’m out of breath, light headed, and sweating. Making breakfast – and eating it – leads me straight to the couch for a rest. But at least I can walk around in the kitchen to make my own breakfast – and eat it sitting up. That is for sure an improvement compared to the treatment this spring. The largest improvement is that I can actually eat and not the least drink water, all without a struggle. Such a solace compared to how it was last time. The constant foul flavor in my mouth is not there and I am – not yet at least – sensitive to any flavors or spicy food. The pills I take can and probably will after a while give me mouth sores, so we’ll see how that pans out when that time comes.

It was no doubt the Oxaliplatin that I got last time that was the cause for the majority of the discomfort. The fear of this discomfort is what completely knocked me off my feet two months ago. I have without a doubt developed PTSD from that experience. I was not ready to go down that route again. What a nasty, nasty drug. I am still struggling with the late onset neuropathy from Oxaliplatin. I am not sure if the drug (Neurontin) I’m taking to control this is working or not. It is slowly slowly getting worse. I don’t know if it would be even worse now without taking it. Over time I have developed a little bit more tingling in my fingers and palms, and an increased faint numbness in my fingertips. My big toes are now completely numb on one side and I can’t feel it when I press the bottom of the big toes with my fingernails. My pinky toes are also very numb. On my left foot it constantly feels like I have a flat small rock on the center part of the ball of the foot right before the toes. When I walk and stand for too long that part starts to hurt. This started out a few weeks ago like I had a crumb or a large grain of sand stuck there and I kept trying to swipe the imaginary crumb off – without any luck. It is not swollen so it should not feel any different than normal, but it sure does. With the drug I’m taking for it, my oncologist is looking for a decrease in the sensation, so I might need to increase the dose even more. 

The chemo pills I take now can possibly give me blisters and shedded skin in my palms and under my feet. I have not seen any signs yet. I am meticulously rubbing my feet and hands with Burt’s Bees foot and hand cream every morning and night to hopefully reduce the reaction. The added benefit to that – except exceptionally soft skin after a while – is that I’m giving my feet an extra rub and massage, hoping that I can improve blood circulation so that the numbness gets reduced. 

This week has been quite low in exercise, but I went for a short walk with Benjamin and Chess yesterday. I also swam 10 laps in the pool. I’d like to think that exercise made me feel better today – and possibly also improved the neuropathy in my feet. I joined James on a hunt for some wood in different lumber yards today, so I have done some walking today. Maybe I can also lure James out for a walk while Benjamin makes dinner tonight.

I have one more week of chemo pills before I have one week off – before a new three week cycle begins. I hope the coming week does not deliver too many surprises and that the potential nausea and potential elevated fatigue will be manageable – and better yet, not any different than how the past week has been. While not pleasant, it is bearable.