I felt pretty good on Day 1 (chemo day) and Day 2 (shot day - Neulasta), but today??? Wow!!!
I'd heard about this type of fatigue, that it's quite different from general tiredness or lethargy, but the descriptions didn't prepare me for this!
Sleep was better last night: dozed off around 10:30, up around 3:30 (nightly restroom break ;-), read some of my current iBook selection, "hi" to Fred around 4:45, "bye" to Fred around 5:30, back to sleep (!!! this is good), up at 6:30 - did I really sleep an hour?, up again at 7:30 - another hour?
Rather than dozing off again, I dragged myself out of bed, only to find I felt like I'd not really slept! A bit groggy, shaky (not the low blood sugar kind), unsteady, sluggish... Well, THIS was not going to be the way I spent my day! So I went downstairs for my morning java and meds, came back upstairs and dressed, went back down for my breakfast of oatmeal with extra protein (and a prune for good measure), then out with Cooper for what I thought would be a nice little morning walk. Well, today's trash day in the neighborhood, and ANYTHING that throws mini Cooper off of his expected schedule means the walk won't go well. He started off dragging me down the sidewalk, then wanted to cross the street, NOT at one of our usual places (really?). So back home we went! That took all of about 10 minutes.
So, feeling I needed some fresh air, I grabbed my teaching materials and sat on the back deck (covered and shaded from the sun, but open to the nice morning breeze - well, a little bit of a breeze). Cooper assumed the flop in his basking spot over in the sun. This was okay for about five minutes, when I realized my ankles were swelling again - did I mention THAT fun issue? Well, let me fill you in...
A good friend came over with her doggie yesterday evening and we went for a walk. It was still a bit muggy, and I'd been on my feet most of the day. The walk was nice - a slow, chatty stroll - then we sat for a while on the deck out back. I noticed then that my ankles were rather swollen :(
Rats!!! This is a known side effect of chemo, and I thought I was doing SO good! We sat a little while longer, with my feet propped on the table, but it got worse so we had to call it a night.
I took a warm bath - something a virtual pink sister said was a "no-no" with swelling (should have iced them instead) - and proceeded to prop them on my way-too-expensive Brookstone wedge pillow, purchased so I could sleep after my surgery! At least I'm still able to put it to good use ;-)
My ankles look a little better here, but you can tell where my legs were swelling too :(
They were mostly better this morning, but I knew not to stay on my feet too much today... Well, no problem THERE!!!
Back to the chemo fatigue.
Hubby has a recliner that most everyone loves. Here's my precious daughter and mini Cooper in said chair:
I don't normally sit in it, but I thought it might come in handy today, to both rest and elevate my feet. Well dang it, I wasn't heavy enough to keep it in the completely reclined position - ARGH! Intent not to fail at this, I grabbed a sofa pillow and afghan, propped my feet on the pillow, and covered myself up (too lazy to get up and turn off the ceiling fan). I thought I'd take a 15-minute power nap, but it turned into a 2-hour, not-moving-even-though-my-cell-rang-3-times nap! I'm typically a fidgety sleeper (ask hubby), but I swear, I literally did not move!
Finally, realizing I NEEDED to get up and eat some lunch, I drug myself out of the chair, ate a bite (followed by the requisite tooth brushing and dry mouth swishing), and proceeded to the post office to mail a package and to CVS for some compression garments (per my oncologist's office after I called about the swelling). The P.O. stop was a success, not so much at CVS - the selection was minimal, and the items were $27 PER STOCKING!!! We'll do a Walmart run later this evening. I won't likely be driving - my garage parking in this state wasn't the best, I almost ran into the house ;-)
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