I was pumped!!

April 13, 2010
I learned later, that the reason I was so energetic after my first chemo dose was that I was pumped on steroids!! I certainly felt like the energizer bunny, leading the way through the new vegetable garden in my little backyard, shoveling a blend of sphagnum moss, vermiculite and compost into the raised beds Francesca had built for me. My head was spinning, but I was relentless. The beds had to be prepared. And now!

Emma and I sat down for dinner and I fell on my food -- positively starving! I had seconds!! The dinner, courtesy of one of my MRC rower friends, D, was super-delicious! I figured it would be a good idea to get to bed early, given all the excitement, so I gathered my pharmacopoeia and checked what I had to take. The main side effect of chemo is severe gastric distress, so you have to stock up on an arsenal of pills to keep the stomach under control, at all times!

Dr Z. was absolutely adamant that anyone on chemo has the right to turn into a sissy and take the pills. "This isn't the time to tough it out" he kept repeating. "We don't want you turning into a porcelain princess!" " A what?" Visions of Lladro' angels popped into my head. I hadn't a clue what he was talking about. "You know", he bellowed, "A toilet hugger!"

I'd prepared a cheat sheet to keep all the meds organized and tucked it into a large box with all the bottles. Since no one I know can read the labels even with their glasses on, I'd taken the precaution of labeling everying in large felt-tip lettering. First up: Compazine. I looked it up. "A potent anti-psychotic used to treat schizophrenics and manic depressives." Hang on, chaps, that's not what I've got! Oh wait, also used as an anti-emetic (read: vomiting) for chemotherapy patients. Good grief! This is powerful stuff. I think it was in the drip bags at the hospital. No wonder I was so dizzy. I must have been having a reverse psychotic moment!

So my instructions were simple........ the minute you even suspect you might feel nauseous, take a Compazine. Check! If in 10 minutes you still think you might possibly feel sick, take a Zofran (this second wonder drug gives you a headache and bungs you up - positively marvelous!). Check! If you get a headache, take Tylenol. Check! If you even remotely think you're still ever-so-slightly queasy, take an Ativan, another anti-psychotic used to treat anxiety.

I'll tell you something, just the thought of all these pills rattling around inside me, on top of all the drugs that had been piped into me earlier was making me feeling a little anxious. I set them neatly in a row on the bedside table, in order, and tried to think. It wasn't easy. My head was still swimming and as I lay down I heard my stomach tell me quite clearly that I should take the pills. I obeyed.