Cancer Update – Part 11

6 June 2023

It didn’t take much time for the first side effects to show up. One of the drugs I take has a side effect of diarrhea. Another has constipation. The constipation drug won out.

I’ve only been really constipated once in my life and that was on a canoe trip with grad school friends into the Quetico in Canada. I think I was three days without a bowel movement.

The much more usual case for me is diarrhea. Mom was a firm believer in laxatives and enemas when Archie and I were kids. My first experience with diarrhea was with her obsession that her kids were wormy. Archie and I would annually be required to down two bottles of of citrate of magnesia and try to poop in round paper cups without spillage – it never didn’t spill over. The doctor would then do a fecal smear from the overabundance and check for worm eggs.

Then it was the spring cleansing with castor oil. She would chase us around the house with a tablespoon of the stuff. Finally she got smart and hid it in orange juice. For years, I couldn’t drink oj without thinking of the taste with castor oil in it. Then it became enemas at the least hint of not pooping on demand.

She not only believed in it for her kids but for herself. I swear I would be in the dorm at Ole Miss and diarrhea hit me out of the blue. I would call home and tactfully raise the question if she had taken a laxative. The answer was always yes. I think I had sympathetic diarrhea for years. When she took a laxative, I pooped. In essence, unless more is forthcoming this morning, I’ll be forced to take a laxative. That’ll be the first time since my last colonoscopy 9 years ago.

Tie the constipation to chem fog and slight tremors of the hand this morning and I can say the side effects are affecting.

I noticed the brain fog when I started my breakfast routine and realized I was getting things out of sequence. Yes, I know that’s silly but as I age, I find it comforting to have a routine for breakfast preparation. First, it’s get the French press out of the washer along with my coffee cup. Then add sugar to the cup, a pinch of salt to the press (enhances flavor), grind the coffee and put the kettle on. Then I reach for the bowl for my fruit mix and top with yogurt. Then the health tests: sugar, blood pressure, dissolved oxygen, temperature and ointment for arthritis. This morning I managed to scramble all the routine. Then when I started my morning walk, I forgot my sunglasses, my handkerchief and face mask (I only wear it if I have a prolonged conversation while on the walk) and thumb supports for arthritic thumbs. I did walk 1.3 miles.

The slight hand tremors made me a butterfingers this morning. It’s lessened as the morning has gone on but it’s still there.

Surprisingly, I got enough sleep last night even though I was getting up every four hours for nausea pills. They must work because I had no nausea. For some reason, my alarm went off between the 4 hour periods and brain fog had me take a pill when it wasn’t due. I figured, what the hell? It probably didn’t hurt me. I’m back on schedule now.

When I got back from my walk, Jose was in the drive waiting for me to open the door. He’s putting the skim coat on the drywall as I write this. Little by little, I see a light at the end of the tunnel and Chad has promised no more trains coming through.

On a brighter note, when I was undergoing infusions, an older lady was brought into a cubicle next to mine. I later found out she was undergoing radiation therapy and was having a hard time: nausea, mouth sores, etc. I had brought along some of the King Leo peppermint sticks. After Jimmie and I talked about them, I sent her some and unbeknownst to me, she had sent me some. I took out three sticks: one for me, one for the nurse Pat, and one for the lady. They immediately recognized the sticks with the King Leo writing on the wrapper and they both broke into smiles. They were thrilled with the candy from our childhoods. It seems like Jimmie and I are not the only ones to wax nostalgic. I didn’t know so many people had been exposed to the product.

I head in for my immune booster at 4 pm.

Stay tuned!