Okay, maybe I've overdone it the past few days. I had evening activities Tuesday and Wednesday (and more on Thursday and Friday). I'm trying to live my life -- stay connected, run errands, meet a friend for lunch. But I feel as though this Abraxane/Avastin combo makes me both stupid and tired, as though I am running at 50% of normal.
Stupidity
At last night's meeting I had some trouble making coherent sentences. My typing has been a little incoherent, so I've had to redo most of my computer interactions. At rehearsal tonight, I had difficulty concentrating on song words, even for the songs I know by heart.
Fatigue
It seems like I am tired all the time. Not necessarily sleepy at bedtime, but constantly run down. Last night I was so tired I stumbled around the house, trying to get ready for bed, but I couldn't fall asleep. (And then I had massive foot cramps every hour, all night long. Okay, maybe lack of sleep is affecting me too.) I hit a wall this afternoon at 3 PM and fell sound asleep on the sofa.
And Monday's was only the first dose of this chemo combo.
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I claim chemo brain even though I am three years out of treatment. I think it killed off brain cells. Fatigue is hard to cope with as well. You have my sympathy on both. But for foot cramps, mine are greatly reduced since I started stretching out my calf muscles every day. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'm not anywhere near a chemo room, but I am working very hard in school and working a 33 hour work week for the forseeable future. I wake up in the night with a jerk (no. Not Tim.) I jerk awake, and I frantically sort through assignments in my head sure that I've forgotten something (which I haven't). I'm getting tireder and tireder. Yesterday in class, I was trying to formulate an answer, and I couldn't. I knew what I meant, but I could not say it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am trying to say is that fatigue will do that, regardless of the cause. What I will pray for is that your body will adjust to the new chemo regime, and with a little nap, your words will flow again.
Jill.....I started on Abraxane back in February, and I've definitely noticed a cognitive impairment aka chemobrain. I'm finding blogging to be so much harder as a result. Have trouble finding the right words, and stringing the sentences together. And typing too, I am quite often missing words out of the sentences so I have to keep rereading over and over. And my short-term memory is totally shot. You're not imagining it. Fatigue is an issue for me too.
ReplyDeleteTen years out from treatment, my partner claims she still has job security as my translator. While in treatment, I would get leg and foot cramps that would send body parts off in directions I didn’t know were possible. I still keep a bottle of Canada Dry’s Tonic Water (with quinine) at the head of the bed for the cramps that still occasionally happen. As partner says “Cancer: the gift that keeps on giving.”
ReplyDeleteWith all the confidence that you’ll get through this,
Betty Johanna