The morning after the chemo before
05/10/2021
Tuesday morning after chemo had about it the aftermath of a drunk fuelled night full of bad decisions. My head hurt, I felt thirsty and generally green around the gills.
I wasn’t actually sick though, my new tipple Domperidone (not to be confused with Dom Perignon) settled the nausea. In fact it worked so well, I didn’t have to take any of the other anti-sickness pills in my bag of meds.
Wednesday and Thursday were much the same. I just felt tired and slept a lot which was surprising, as I was taking two lots of steroids twice a day and drinking gallons of water (my pee is more pink than red now).
The biggest issue for me was constipation, I hadn’t been since Monday and was beginning to feel bloated. After a telephone chat with the hospital pharmacist and a trip to my local chemist, two tablets of Dulcolax (or Dynobum, as I like to call them) before bed soon fixed that.
Self-injections
Then there was the Filgrastim injections and boy, was I dreading them.
Along with six daily doses and a plethora of instructions, I was told to refrigerate the syringes and inject myself in the stomach or outer thigh. I didn’t like the idea of stabbing myself in the stomach, so opted for my thigh and swapped legs each time.
To minimise the sting, I had read on breast cancer forums that it’s a good idea to apply Ametop (a skin numbing gel) and let the syringe reach room temperature for about 30 minutes before injecting.
Whilst waiting for the Filgrastim to warm, I usually played Candy Crush as it helped me to relax and always rewarded myself with a lovely cuppa when the deed was done.
I also researched articles on the management of G-CSF induced bone pain (a side effect of Filgrastim), and read that 10mg of oral loratadine (Clarityn) may successfully relieve it.
I take antihistamines anyway because I’m allergic to our cats (we have 4), and after taking one tablet of Clarityn 30 minutes before each injection, I have no bone pain…yet.  Â
Chemo brain
Friday and Saturday, still no bone pain. I do feel groggy though. It’s like someone has packed my brain full of cotton wool and I just can’t think properly. Remembering words during conversation is also difficult but figured, I just need to roll with it until the chemo fog lifts.
Mum did suggest walking which helped a lot, and most days we try to get in at least 10,000 steps. I’m lucky to live in East Renfrewshire, so have plenty of walking routes to choose from.
Sometimes we take the Dams to Darnley route and say hello to the geese (there’s hundreds of them), and today we met a very handsome young swan just taking it easy in the sun.
Sunday (day 6)
The chemo fog has finally lifted and apart from a few lingering side effects (night sweats and a couple of mouth ulcers) I feel GRRREAT!
Full of energy in fact, so I cleaned the house (it was beginning to look manky) and took a leisurely walk around the banks Loch Libo with William.
It was just so good to feel normal again and enjoy quality time together. We even managed a spot of Sunday lunch at the Uplawmoor Hotel which was utterly delicious.
Yes, it really does feel like I’m venturing out of the woods at last. I might be speaking too soon, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings. Â
If you would like to read more about oral loratadine (Clarityn) for the management of G-CSF induced bone pain, here’s the link to the article that I read: