Chemo Day 5: Now The Fun Starts

Its day 5 of the the chemo treatment and the last day of the at home chemo. If I hadn't had the problem with the pump that would be done today. Instead it will be tomorrow morning that the PICC line and pump go away. I have started to notice some changes though. Prior to the start of this chemo we did away with some of the drugs that were drying up the excess mucus. This was because severe dry mouth was starting to form. Now at the end of this week I can tell that the exact opposite is starting. This afternoon there is lots of mucus and saliva so I have started back on the treatment to handle this. The excess mucus really impacts sleeping.

I am also concerned about the nausea that manifested itself last time on the weekend. I started on Zofran today (Had to wait to day 5 of chemo to restart the Zofran) and went with the schedule that solved the problem last time.

One thing I have noticed from the chemo treatments is that the side effects come and go without a lot of notice. It isn't the case that once a side effect is gone it doesn't come back. The excess mucus is an example. Last week that was going away. The biggest concern was the thick mucus at the back of the throat. (Still a concern) Now the excess mucus is back and needs to be dealt with. In this respect I look at each chemo treatment as a potential reset of symptoms. Even though things may have gotten better at the end of the last cycle this is a new cycle and things start all over again. Fortunately there is only one more treatment after this. Then hopefully as side effects drop off they stay away. That is the hope at least.

On the TV trivia I have noticed once again that there are more food ads on TV than you realize. All with nicely done tempting commercials. I have started watching the Food Channel in anticipation of when I will be able to eat again. As you may remember my other term is the "Food Porn" channel. :-) At times I wonder what type of food budget and cleaning time would be required to make these type of items on a regular basis. I like fresh herbs and such but keeping a supply in to use at will would get very expensive and all the dishes and pots used would require at least an hour per meal of serious clean up. Still its a fun channel to watch just to get ideas and to live vicariously through others. Hopefully in the next few months I will be able to start to eat normal food. Right now that is the biggest thing that I really miss out on.