Apparently a very rough twin pregnancy is a great warm-up for chemotherapy. At this point, I’m hard-pressed to say which is worse. They are both things I hope you never experience. That being said, there were times over the last four days, when I was glad to be able to say, “It’s bad, but I’ve had worse.”
At the same time, it’s sad that my pregnancy was as bad as chemotherapy. Telling my doctor that, pretty much shocked the hell out of him. There are so many ways that they are the same: constant nausea, random vomiting, tired as hell and falling asleep at the drop of a hat.
And then there are the little ways that it is different. There are no chubby babies at the end of this road. But I will get more time with my babies, so there is that. The big differences are:
1.) The TASTE– Imagine a dead raccoon is rotting in your mouth. No matter how much you brush your teeth or swirl with mouthwash, it’s carcass continues to decompose. This is my new normal. I was warned about the taste, but I’m not great with bad-tasting medicine, let alone this taste. This adds to my constant nausea and makes it hard for me to drink enough liquid, which is a big deal.
2.) Weird electric currency– So far, I think I’m among the few to complain of this one. I think it’s a side effect from the “V” drug. My jaw keeps locking up and it feels like someone is jabbing my jawbone with a cattle prod. It makes it hard to open my mouth or chew because it can be excruciating. Luckily, this one is fading, so maybe it will only last a few days after each treatment.
3.) Mouth sores– I don’t have actual mouth sores (not yet anyway), but the drugs make your mouth really sore even if there aren’t sores. Does that strike you as odd? It’s a little like the sensation described above, but more of a mild shock feeling on your tongue or sides of your mouth.
4.) The fog– It’s hard to describe the fuzzy brain that I got. The best way I can describe it, is that my “Give a damn” is broken. I’m fuzzy, slow thinking, I swear my IQ has dropped 30 points and nothing matters that much to me. Outside of my family, not much can move me to do, well, anything.
I’ve begun to see why people lose weigh on chemo. Eating is a chore and all of these symptoms make food and drink the enemy. The good news is that there are only three major side effects outside of what I’ve dealt with before. I also suspect that I’ve begun to see the pattern that treatments will follow: Day 1 – feel okay. Day 2- feel bad, Day 3- feel like hell, Day 4- start feeling better.
At least I hope it follows this pattern. We outsourced the kiddos for Day 3, Saturday, and it ended up being the best thing we could do. It really scares the kids when I puke and I have to smile and tell them mommy is okay. I’m not sure I could have pulled that one off on Saturday.
Luckily I was better by the time they came home, and we managed bet time and snuggles.
Baby snuggles cure everything.
My family is going to be what allows me to get through this. I need those moments of joy to puncture the fog and distract me from wallowing in my misery.
Cancer Ever After 
Baby snuggles should be studied as medicine! Sucks that you are getting crappy side effects. Hopefully it follows the pattern and you can sort of plan around it with the kids.
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