Thursday, October 19, 2006

Worst Chemo yet

I had the worst case of anticipatory nausea yesterday during my 9th chemo. I was extremely nauseous and miserable. I ended up puking twice while I was receiving the chemo. The nausea still hasn't subsided. I am on every type of nausea medicine possible and I still haven't been able to get off the couch since yesterday. I am also very exhausted & tired due to low blood count.
I have extremely low white blood cell count again and this time Doc said I have also become anemic.
I wasn't sure exactly what anemia was so I looked it up:

Anemia is related to a decrease in the number of red blood cells and amount of hemoglobin (a protein that helps your blood carry oxygen). This in turn results in your blood being unable to carry oxygen throughout your body as well as it should. Cancer-related anemia can be caused by many factors, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, iron deficiency, blood loss, the cancer itself, or a combination of these or other factors.

Anemia can make you feel fatigued or extremely tired. It may also have the following symptoms:

*Difficulty in thinking (cognitive dysfunction)
*Dizziness and weakness
*Shortness of breath with mild exertion
*Pale skin
*Rapid heartbeat
*Feeling cold all the time
*Loss of sex drive
*Depression

I guess this explains the miserableness & tiredness. This also explains my embarrassment a few days ago when I was at the store. I counted the items up in my cart and calculated about $40 worth of stuff, when I checked out, it rang up at $90 worth of stuff. I didn't believe the clerk and had him show me the receipt. Sure enough it was me, I couldn't calculate correctly in my head! I had to have him put half of the stuff back, very embarrassing. This difficulty in thinking and not being able to do simple math in my head is happening more and more often, pretty scary!

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