Day three was a real low, and I thought I was turning a corner (positively) yesterday.

In many ways, I was.

But in the evening I developed severe pain in all of my joints — similar to what you feel with a very bad flu. We called in to the oncologist and apparently this is a typical reaction to the taxotere . . . but a few days later than usual. (Who’s special? Lisa is special!) The oncologist recommended heavy-duty painkillers, so I am now on my old friend Dialudid. For a few days.

Loopy am I.

No work for me. The upside is that I was able to go for a walk (15 min) this morning, which just helps keep the fluids moving) and I’m feeling very good. And if I am bored, I don’t really care. 🙂

It’s more than a little frightening that I feel worse as time goes by; and that this is cumulative.

Because I feel utterly wretched. I have a headache (never good) and am fatigued. The worse part is that I have an awful sore throat — like a prickly lump at the back of my throat, scraping my tongue raw.

I have a call  in to my oncologist to see if there is something palliative I can take to ease the soreness. In the meantime, I’m just waiting for time to pass.

Silver lining? No nausea.

I conquered the steroids problem: 1/2 dose taken at least 1/2 hour after both anti-nausea and prilosec are taken and with food.  yay.

ye gods, though, I am tired. despite a good night’s sleep.

Drinking lots of water, tea, and some juice.

So, this is what being poisoned feels like? It’s tough. Not painful, just . . . boring I guess. I make lots of typos when I write, my head isn’t ‘in the game’ and apparently I’m clearly low energy. (I usually have a big field of energy around me. I do not, now.)

I’m also cold, a lot. I’m sitting here in a warm house with a fleece hat on, my neck wrapped in a luxurious silk scarf, in a fleece jacket over a turtleneck. I’m still a bit chilly.

That went (surprisingly) well.

It turns out that the night sweats were most likely a side effect of the steroid I took (as a kind of systemic anti-inflammatory, if I understand it correctly). Bad news: I had another (via infusion) this morning, and will take the pills tonight and tomorrow. That is part of my overall regimen. Also, the steroids seems to produce a lot of stomach acid in me, which the anti-nausea meds don’t address (weird science). So I need to get an OTC drug: Prilosec.

Once we got on top of the upset stomach, all went well. No problems with the vein, or the meds going into me. My blood count looks good.

One funny thing: she gave me atavan to calm me down “this may make you feel sleepy.” Nope. I was a slightly ‘out of it’ but no where near sleep.

I’m home and taking care of odds n ends. Feel free to call, but I really don’t have a lot more to say than this, so I’ll understand if you don’t 🙂

My goals for the day: clear my desk off a bit (financial stuff), make a to-do list, go for a walk with Sasha (likely, 15 mins only), do a yoga session (even if its just half the program.

John’s planning to make shrimp and broccoli stir fry for dinner tonight. YUM.