So today I had my third treatment of Avastin, which was only 30-minutes this time.
I really don’t have any side effects from this treatment, except for a bit of blood in my mucus.
This isn’t that bad considering I could be experiencing severe nosebleeds or mouth sores. So in comparison, I can deal with colorful tissues.
Oh wait! As I was writing this I just got a nosebleed!
Not a gusher though. Just a trickle!
I guess I am not as immune as I thought.
I must say that it feels very strange sitting in the waiting rooms for my appointments. I am always the youngest and the healthiest looking person in the room. It is sobering to see that I really do have a best case scenario for my diagnosis. I am in decent physical condition (besides the weight I’ve gained from the steroids), my side effects are minimal, and my energy is still pretty good.
I was talking to a guy in the waiting room before radiation who told me that he had lost 20 lbs, nothing tasted the same and he could barely keep down anything that he ate. I, on the other hand, have gained 10 lbs since my diagnosis and food still tastes the same.
The only time I’ve had trouble keeping anything down is last night when I ate a turkey leg and a funnel cake the size of a Chicago deep-dish pizza at the state fair. To make that mistake even larger, I took my Temodar and ended up waking at 5am to vomit.
My roommate Raymond said me throwing up sounded like a spaceship revving up for takeoff.
He should hire me as an alarm clock.
I hardly blame this occurrence on my treatments. This was definitely a self inflicted event.
A note in the cancer log: Fried Foods, Roller Coasters, and Anti Nausea medication (hours too late) will not lead to success in the wee hours of the morning.
A lesson well learned.
After speaking with the guy I mentioned before and the punishment from the fair made me realize that as lucky as I am to have mild (or at least easy to deal with) side effects, I can’t let myself forget that things have changed.
My body is different now, and going through a lot of tough things all at once and I cannot overexert myself.
And I certainly cannot let myself get too comfortable and feel invincible.
Tags: avastin, Journal Entry
Awareness Bracelet: "Save Colin – Terminate the Tumor!"
Colin~
This is Denise, your chemo nurse @ VCI- I just found your blog and am so inspired by you, your family and your circle of friends!
Thinking and praying for all of you.
PS.. hold off on the turkey legs and funnel cakes..