Another Day on the Post Chemo Sofa

So here's the short of it,
Runny nose, weakness, and just waiting to feel better.

And here's the long

I am feeling pretty good today, although my diarrhea has been ever present even with the preventive medication. My runny nose is becoming more than just annoying. I am beginning to get sores inside my nose and need to remember my MD Anderson mouthwash routine! I asked Dr. Schlabach about the runny nose and got a most interesting explanation. My nose is crying! For some reason my tear production is routing through my nose, and I am just getting tearing running into my nose. Dr. Schlabach tried to explain why that happens, but I'll have to admit I didn't understand it. He suggested that some people have plugs put into their tear ducts to help with this side effect, but I already have that! I've also probably lost most of the hair in my nose - and one of it's jobs is to help in a couple of ways to prevent runny noses. So my routine is looking like lots of tissues, MD Anderson mouthwash, and Vasoline.

I've found a wonderful website that I've used as a great resource to answer lots of my questions during this process. I found this wonderful description of how I'm feeling. "Weakness is a lack of physical strength. Being weak may affect your balance and your ability to move around. You may feel you have to make more of an effort than usual to move your arms or legs. If you're feeling weak, you may find it harder to do your daily activities." Wow. That's right, I'm feeling weak! And I am so unaccustomed to that feeling that it's very frustrating. For example, tonight, I walked Sophie outside for some exercise and went to the end of the front sidewalk. I stopped there and a neighbor with her dog came by. We chatted and the dogs ran around in the front yard for about 15 minutes or so. I walked back into the house and was just absolutely out of breath and exhausted. I've spent most of the day on the sofa.

I'm amazed that this weekend coming up is Labor Day. I can't even relate to the notion of a long weekend anymore. I find myself just wanting to be strong enough or have high enough blood counts to go to work or if I am going to be home to be able to do some activity even if it's small.

I'm reminding myself that each cycle I get this down feeling at about this time and as I begin to feel stronger and my symptoms begin to fade a bit, I feel much more optimistic. So I'm looking forward to the days ahead when I'll be stronger, venture out of the house, and feel better about the whole ordeal.