Sunday 27 September 2009

That sinking feeling and bad taste ...Cycle 4, Days 5 and 6

There is no doubt now that some of the side effects of chemo (fatigue and nausea) are cumulative, whilst the steroid anti-sickness tablets which Steve takes at the start of each cycle seem to make him feel a bit "edgy" (can't think how else to describe it) for some time afterwards.  


Another problem is a strong taste that remains in his mouth long after he has eaten.  Rather than getting rid of the taste, mouth rinsing and teeth brushing simply add a mint-flavoured layer. We haven't figured out a way of dealing with this. I wonder if the lingering bad taste could be one reason why people on chemo sometimes resort to bland food?


The combined side effects of chemotherapy meant that Steve did not feel so good on Saturday. To make matters worse, I woke up with that sinking feeling that I might have developed an infection - slight cough, husky voice and temperature slightly raised.


Due to this less-than-wonderful start to the weekend, I ended up spending a large chunk of the day trying to keep my distance from Steve in the hope that he wouldn't catch my infection, and we missed Tanya and Diego's party, which I'm sure was superb on such a wonderful sunny day.  


The good news is that things had improved a little by this morning. Steve felt better for his early night. Although the bad taste was still there (in his mouth - in all other respects, his taste is very good...) there was no need for an early morning antiemetic tablet.  Plus, my infection hadn't worsened overnight and Steve shows no sign of coming down with it so far. We have made the most of the fine weather with a longish walk along the river to Port Meadow then home via the canal, so the latter part of the weekend was on a higher note than the beginning.  


Must remember that peaks and troughs are par for the course.  I think we're lucky we have many more good days than bad.  I hope its the other way round for Leo.   

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