After that I felt more like I had indigestion rather than nausea. One way that is recommended to handle nausea from chemo is to eat several small meals. Having an empty stomach can make it worse. It may seem counter intuitive but you need to eat something even though you feel nauseous. What I learned from my swallowing recovery program last time was the need to have an "In Case of Emergency Break Glass" food item. Something that requires no prep time and has some nutritional value. This time around I laid in a supply of those Special K protein shakes. I just have one of those in between meals and I am fine. As of this morning, 5 days after chemo, it looks like the nausea / indigestion feeling has gone away. All I have consumed so far this morning is espresso and I don't have any nausea / indigestion. I still have some minor fatigue but that is also fading. The only thing left is the ringing in the ears. This one may take some time. That was one of the side effects that lasted quite awhile last time.
More Like a Short Story Than a Sequel
I am almost 4 weeks out from the surgery and should be able to resume normal physical activities. When I was first diagnosed I was expecting far worse than what I have gone through. Even though this is my second time with cancer and testicular cancer has a very high cure rate getting a cancer diagnosis can leave you a bit rattled. Part of that was because my only reference was my last go round. I don't want to trivialize this, cancer in any form is definitely not a good time, but by comparison this was the express version.
From the time I went in for the first test, the ultra sound, to the first and only chemo treatment on Friday 24 days elapsed. In that short time frame the following events occurred:
- Ultra Sound Test
- Meeting with oncologist to get cancer diagnosis
- Meeting with urologist to discuss surgery
- Surgery
- Follow up meeting with urologist to discuss surgery and test results
- CAT Scan / chest X-Ray
- Meeting with oncologist to discuss test results
- Chemotherapy
In just 3 and a half weeks I went from the initial test to essentially being cancer free. Quite the roller coaster ride. Now I am on the surveillance program for the next few years. Back to CT Scans and blood work every few months. There is still a 2% chance of it spreading. Even if it does the cure rate is up in the 99% range. There would just be 3 rounds of stronger chemo treatments.
