OK, so I’ve been quiet, but thought it might be of help to write down a few things as I know I’m among the first to get dosed this month. First of all, it’s doable - very doable. I followed advice from several people both on this website and friends, and those things worked. I also forgot to follow a couple of other bits of advice (mostly after the first day or two when I relaxed) and that was a mistake. Plus I worked out some things for myself, and maybe those will help others too.
Food. Never let yourself get hungry. I was told that and it’s true. Plan to eat about 30 minutes before you normally do, and plan it well ahead. I didn’t do this on day 3, and then realised when supper time loomed that I was too tired to cook or decide what I wanted to eat, so we had toast for supper. Not critical, but not ideal. If someone else is cooking, tell them not to be offended if you start on a bag of hula hoops 20 minutes before they feed you. There seems to be a critical point between feeling nicely hungry and then not wanting to eat that comes on quite fast. Once your stomach tells you it doesn’t want food you’ve got a bit more hill to climb. Hula hoops? Surprising but true. Tip from a real foodie, and she and I would never normally touch them, but the little packs just seem to hit the spot. Mind you, I’m a savoury person without a sweet tooth. You may find a little pack of toffee popcorn works. Basically forget balanced diet for a couple of days. Eat what gets you through. You have the rest of your long life to eat properly – and I find that feeling a bit rebellious helps!
Drink. Just do it! Anything – water, tea, coffee, juice. You need to wash the toxic stuff out, and the only way to do that is drink. You may find your taste is distorted, so you may have to push yourself. I find that adding a ginger and lemon grass cordial to the water helps, but my main help is ice cold tonic water. I can even persuade myself there’s vodka in it … (Oh, and the ‘anything’ doesn’t include alcohol. Our poor livers have enough to do just now. I’m holding the thought though!) I find that keeping score of what I’ve drunk helps. I have an empty 2 litre water bottle, fill it first thing, then empty out the equivalent of what I drink. I like keeping scores!
Rest. Whenever you need to. You don’t have to sleep, but lying down with a good book or a rubbishy magazine (tell everyone you have chemo brain and can’t concentrate on plots even if it’s not at all true!) is good, and seems much more restorative than it would with ‘normal’ tiredness. If you share a bed and have a spare room, get that set up. Stock it with drinks, nibbles, things to read, glasses if you need them. Pull the curtains in there before you go to bed. Then if you wake in the night (quite common if you’re on steroids for a couple of days), just creep in there and know you’ll be safe and comfy. Tell your bed mate that if you need him or her you promise to tell them, but if you just need to be in the other room then you’ll be fine alone. I find that my other half is very protective, but having said I’ll promise to tell him if he’s needed, he can accept that.
Constipation. Attack!! It’s the anti-nauseants. I let it ride as I’d been warned I’d get constipation or diarrhoea and didn’t want to take the wrong stuff. Now I know, and I won’t be fooled again! But the good news is that the anti-nauseants do work, and that was my major fear really.
I got dosed on Wednesday, it’s now Monday. I’ve been to the supermarket, cleaned the kitchen and got the washing machine going. Cleaned the bathroom yesterday. Saturday was tiredest – first day off steroids, but Sunday felt like I was getting back to normal.
Thinking of you all
Jane x
