Post-Chemo Side Effect Log: Round 1

Jotting down this 3-week log so that I know exactly what happened after Chemotherapy + Immunotherapy Round 1. With this, I hope to be able to establish a pattern and thereafter, plan and schedule the next 4-5 months of my life around the "good days". So that I can at least LIVE LIFE A LITTLE in some way or another la instead of just mope around hoping for the "bad days" to pass cos I have the memory of a goldfish and would probably forget this all by the next cycle. So...

Here we go!

3 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Tue): D-Day a.k.a Day 1

• 370mg Herceptin IV + Zoladex shot 💉 + Taxotere IV (Chemo) + Carboplatin IV (Chemo)
• Long day at the hospital so naturally, by the end of the day, I was totally pancit. 

4 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Wed): Day 2

• OK day.
• Started taking Motilum 10mg (nausea/vomiting) + Apo-Ondansetron 8mg (vomiting) + Dexamethasone 4mg (vomiting/swelling) as prescribed and will continue to do so for the next 3 days.
• Food started tasting a little weird but still felt good, all things considered.
• Insomnia, racing heartbeat, general feeling of anxiety, dry and itchy skin, tiredness on and off – cumulated side effects of the many drugs I received.

5-7 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Thu-Sat): Day 3-5

• Very, very, very bad days. 🤢😪😭
• Daily Nivestim immunity booster shots. 💉💉💉
• Nausea, indigestion, lack of appetite, extreme tiredness, body aches, joint pains, constipation. 
• Insomnia, racing heartbeat, general feeling of anxiety, dry skin – worsening.

8-9 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Sun-Mon): Day 6-7

• Bad days. 🤢😪😭
• Nausea, indigestion, lack of appetite, tiredness – improving veeeeeryyy minimally.
• Diarrhoea (12 times in 2 days!), insomnia, racing heartbeat, general feeling of anxiety, shallow breaths (feels like I'm drowning half the time 😵,  which is a very scary feeling) – worsening at an alarming rate.

10 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Tue): Day 8

• Visit to the hospital to see the Cardiologist 👨‍⚕️ + ECG + Echocardiogram.
• Started on 1/2 tablet Concor 2.5mg daily to manage rapid heart rate and protect my heart.
• Felt a little better thereafter.

11 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Wed): Day 9

• Good day! 🎉
• I started feeling more normal after today. Appetite – OK. Heart rate – OK. Energy level usually dips at about 4pm but, all things, considered, still OK.
• Sore mouth – side effect of Carboplatin but what's a sore mouth compared to everything else I've been through la, right? Pfft. Child's play la, bro. 💁‍♀️

12 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Thu): Day 10

• Good day. 🎉
• Acne starting to flare up on the forehead – side effect of Zoladex.
• Insomnia, mild headache, sore mouth.

13 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Friday): Day 11

• Manageable tiredness, unstable heart rate (cos of insomnia last night, I think).

14 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Friday): Day 12

• Manageable tiredness, unstable heart rate, shallow breath on and off (cos I had to wake up early for JZ's school swim trials this morning after a not-so-good night's sleep). 

15-19 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Saturday): Day 13-17

• Good days. 🎉
• Manageable tiredness. Energy levels dip by evening. 
• Stopped Concor midway cos I started to feel a little better on the cardio front.

20-23 SEPTEMBER 2019 (Saturday): Day 18-21

• Good days. 🎉
• Manageable tiredness. Energy levels dip by evening. 
• Noticeable hairfall. 

SUMMARY a.k.a NOTE TO SELF

• Days 1-7: Don't bother doing anything. Just try to eat and sleep the days away. 🤐🤢😴 #Igiveup #letitgo
• Days 8-14: Diarrhoea and sore mouth. Appetite on the rise. Aside from stuff that can be solved by Concor, things are looking up!
• Days 15-21: Do whatever you can, when you can. Be free! Fly far! Soar, Little Bird, soar! 😂 

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How quickly time flies. 3 weeks have passed; I survived the horror. And with that, it's Round 1 – done and dusted. Tomorrow we embark on Round 2. Here we go, here we go... I'm ready; let's do this!  🙆‍♀️💪😎