Side Effects and other stuff

3/23/12
For 3 days after chemo I take pills to combat nausea and allergies. I am on a steroid which does a pretty good job of making me feel well and have an appetite.
I had to stop after 3 days though-that is my schedule. I've only had very slight nausea but lots of indigestion.
I think the indigestion has more to do with the ascites I have because it just compresses everything.

Dr S. and Dr.B assure me that the ascites will resolve with the chemo-oddly enough, surgery alone would not stop it from returning.
They've explained to me that it is the microscopic malignancy that causes the ascites-it is not a mass you can see but rather like a cobweb that has settled. Like someone has taken a loaded paintbrush and flicked it at my abdomen. It is nowhere. It is everywhere.
I want the chemo to annihilate it.

I am mostly just tired. I tell myself that this too will pass.
I've become rather obsessed with my bowels.
I am a regular "bowel baby"
You might have to be a geriatric nurse to understand the irony.

I lie on my bed and listen to my body.
I will the chemo to attack the cancer and destroy it.
If I feel a twinge I tell myself the drugs are working.
If I am tired or nauseated I remind myself this is expected.
I drink lots of water and wintergreen lifesavers taste great.
For some strange reason I crave eggs.

I look forward to my next chemo.
I make myself get dressed everyday no matter what.
I love that the weather has turned so lovely.
God bless my family and friends.
I am grateful for you all.

Love, Dixie

"Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing."-Voltaire