Even Superwomen Gets Runs in Her Tights!

My best efforts to remain perfectly healthy while undergoing chemo were thwarted by a huge mess of circumstances.  The chemo has given me allergies, allergies that I didn't have before.  The allergies made my sinus' incredibly wonky which led  to something that closely resembled a sinus infection, but wasn't quite a sinus infection and that horrible sinus drainage down the back of my throat. A sinus infection that I figured if nursed, would just disappear because it wasn't a raging sinus infection. (Little did I know!  Note to self: this is not the body you've lived in for the last 39 years, this is a chemo body!)   But then the drainage down the back of my throat started making my throat scratchy, so I started gargling with salt water... And then came the final blow, 8 days after my treatment, my husband begins coughing, sneezing and sniffling.  NOOOOO!!

I can't.
I will not.
Ain't doing it.
There is no way I am getting that cold.  Out came the vitamins (D3, C and garlic), and I started drinking enough water to float a small yacht.  When I felt a slight tickle in my throat, I even agreed to let my mom make her crazy "brew" (boiled Coca-Cola, ginger, and lemon- oh the things that I am enduring).  I drank several mugs full of that insanely yucky potion, putting forth my best effort not to wrinkle my nose (I didn't want my mom to feel bad) to no avail.  (I am not a big fan of ginger to begin with, but there seems to be a lot of in most of the suggested food for chemo patients because of it's ability to help with nausea!  One thing I know for sure, once this is all over, I will never, ever, not in a million years, want to taste or see ginger ever again!  I may not even be able to talk about it.)

Despite my best efforts and my mom's crazy brew, it was in the cards for me to get a cold.   It couldn't have come at a worse time, my cousin and her husband and her two boys were visiting from Pennsylvania!  It was the first time that they've been here to see us in Florida, and the 1st time I've seen them since they were married last year.  Thankfully, I got one good day out and about with them before my little cold decided it needed to invade my whole body!

You know the feeling.  Your head feels as if it's the size of the Goodyear Blimp.  Your throat feels like you dumped acid down it.  Your whole body aches.  So, I had no choice, as much as I hate it, I had to do the right thing.  I had to rest, and take lots of naps.  I couldn't do anything else.  (Which drives me insane!)

The most important part of recovery is having someone by your side to keep you company.   Duke loved having his mommy sit still (something he's not really used to!). His soft head on my shoulder made me feel so much better!  (For some reason, this picture makes his head look extremely large!  He's really not that big!)

I had my pre-chemo appointment with my oncologist on Friday morning, and I wasn't feeling any better- I think I was actually getting worse.  I was so congested that I actually slept upright Thursday night, and somewhere in the middle of the night, I developed a horrible cough.  (I never sleep sitting up!)  My oncologist said she got nervous when she heard that I was sick, as I'm scheduled for chemo this coming Friday, but my blood work is still very good!  That was good news, I was a little concerned.  She wrote me a script for a z-pack and told me to call her today if I wasn't feeling better.

Friday afternoon I lost my voice.  It's starting to come back today, I get 5 or 10 minute spans when I don't sound like a scary creature out of bad B movie- even the dogs are looking at me funny when I talk, and my husband keeps telling me he can't understand a word I'm saying. I have to admit, I feel much better today than I did on Friday, and I actually got an almost perfect night of sleep....

I will be happy when this is behind  me!