a little bit on what's going on
Sep. 30th, 2009 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wickedwordsIt's been a crazy couple of weeks since my first chemo treatment. I ended up terribly constipated from the infusion, which cleared up on Saturday, but then I had the opposite problem for several days. The steroid crash left me crying a lot, and my mouth and tongue were quite white from all the cells that were killed off. Without tastebuds, I had little interest in eating and what I did manage tasted wrong. Water had a weird taste too, but I could drink things if they were cold enough, so I had a lot of iced things. Oh, and the white blood cell shot made me ache a lot, so I was taking Tylenol for five days, and felt like someone had kicked me in the side. The misery index was pretty high through Sunday.
By Monday, though, I feeling enough better that I got on-line and worked from home for a few hours. The first thing that happened was my boss's boss IM'd me, and wanted me to come to his office. I freaked, since I was working from home after having had chemo, and it was clear he knew nothing about it. So I explained what was going on, and that was why I hadn't been around the past few days--but that wasn't why he wanted to talk to me.
Apparently, he'd just fired my boss.
Which, okay, I'd known there was a strained relationship between the two, but I didn't know it had gotten to the point where my boss had been asked to look for a different job within the company, and that his time had finally run out. So I made a point to come in on Tuesday the 22nd, to touch base and find out what was up.
That was when he told me--in person this time--that they'd decided that my job really didn't fit with his organization, so I was being re-orged to a new group, effective immediately. Oh, and I'd have to meet with my new boss at 11:00. "nice to see you, yadda, yadda, and yes, I told them you were having chemo."
So, great. I meet my new team, my husband picks me up after the meeting and takes me home, where I eat fast food from arby's and crash. I spend the rest of the week working 1/2 days at work, and some time at home, and taking big, long naps. I develop a rash on my butt that benedryl creme helps, and acne on my thighs, which I just kinda ignore, and a bad case of heartburn.
However, I start being able to taste food again, and that makes things much better. Sweet is the first set to come back, followed by salty. So water starts tasting salty, but juice bars are heaven.
I eat a lot of juice bars.
When I meet with the oncologist a week after treatment, the white blood cell counts aren't quite what is expected, but given the pain I'd had from the first shot, she doesn't give me a second one. Instead, I get a week of high powered antibiotics, as a just-in-case; I'm also to stay away from crowds and wash my hands or use purell a lot.
She gives me prilosec for the heartburn, and more antibiotics for a trip to the dentist to check into a receding gum issue, plus industrial strength vitamin D (50,000 units taken once a week)
By Saturday, I am feeling pretty good, and my husband comments that I am more myself again. I'm feeling good enough that I go out and visit the cannibals for a bit, and then come home and crash. Sunday, we clip my hair down to a brush cut, since it was strongly suggested that I would start loosing my hair soon; this week, I have started rockin' the soft hats.
In fact, today is the day that I lose some my hair, starting with under-my-arms. Not sure how long it will take before I lose what's on my head, but I've heard it goes fast. I'll probably be bald by the time I go for my second treatment next week.
By Monday, though, I feeling enough better that I got on-line and worked from home for a few hours. The first thing that happened was my boss's boss IM'd me, and wanted me to come to his office. I freaked, since I was working from home after having had chemo, and it was clear he knew nothing about it. So I explained what was going on, and that was why I hadn't been around the past few days--but that wasn't why he wanted to talk to me.
Apparently, he'd just fired my boss.
Which, okay, I'd known there was a strained relationship between the two, but I didn't know it had gotten to the point where my boss had been asked to look for a different job within the company, and that his time had finally run out. So I made a point to come in on Tuesday the 22nd, to touch base and find out what was up.
That was when he told me--in person this time--that they'd decided that my job really didn't fit with his organization, so I was being re-orged to a new group, effective immediately. Oh, and I'd have to meet with my new boss at 11:00. "nice to see you, yadda, yadda, and yes, I told them you were having chemo."
So, great. I meet my new team, my husband picks me up after the meeting and takes me home, where I eat fast food from arby's and crash. I spend the rest of the week working 1/2 days at work, and some time at home, and taking big, long naps. I develop a rash on my butt that benedryl creme helps, and acne on my thighs, which I just kinda ignore, and a bad case of heartburn.
However, I start being able to taste food again, and that makes things much better. Sweet is the first set to come back, followed by salty. So water starts tasting salty, but juice bars are heaven.
I eat a lot of juice bars.
When I meet with the oncologist a week after treatment, the white blood cell counts aren't quite what is expected, but given the pain I'd had from the first shot, she doesn't give me a second one. Instead, I get a week of high powered antibiotics, as a just-in-case; I'm also to stay away from crowds and wash my hands or use purell a lot.
She gives me prilosec for the heartburn, and more antibiotics for a trip to the dentist to check into a receding gum issue, plus industrial strength vitamin D (50,000 units taken once a week)
By Saturday, I am feeling pretty good, and my husband comments that I am more myself again. I'm feeling good enough that I go out and visit the cannibals for a bit, and then come home and crash. Sunday, we clip my hair down to a brush cut, since it was strongly suggested that I would start loosing my hair soon; this week, I have started rockin' the soft hats.
In fact, today is the day that I lose some my hair, starting with under-my-arms. Not sure how long it will take before I lose what's on my head, but I've heard it goes fast. I'll probably be bald by the time I go for my second treatment next week.
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