August 2, 2017 Wednesday
I slept pretty well last night, but woke up pretty early and ready to go. I had a calm morning, but I did move around and do some easy tasks – gotta keep moving, can’t just stop doing anything!! By lunchtime, I was beginning to get tired again. It seems that once I start getting tired, things go downhill pretty quickly. So, I left Roswell for the drive home to Dalton and that drive went well. I met some friends to visit while they had lunch. Oh, I forgot to tell you what I had for lunch – hold onto your hats!! I had a Wendy’s homestyle chicken sandwich, fries, and a medium vanilla frosty!! AND a coconut dunkin donut!! Yep – I didn’t have any eggs for breakfast and that’s what happens when I don’t eat a good breakfast!! So, lots of sugar – bet my arthritic knee will hurt tomorrow, and it has been feeling so good lately!!
After visiting with the girls, I went to Kroger to get food for the next few days and to get the Magic Mouthwash the oncologist prescribed last week. With all the mouth problems I have had lately, I decided that I would probably use it as directed and so it would be worth the $50. The pharmacist said it might make me nauseous and it will make my mouth numb, but that I should use it just before meals – that sounds strange to me. He also said I should swallow it, usually, after I had swished it for as long as I can – up to five minutes. I feel certain I will not be able to swish it for five minutes. I’m not at all sure about this mouthwash, but I’ll let you know how it goes. My mouth sore is back and I don’t like that so I’ll use it tonight before bed.
After getting back from Kroger and bringing in the groceries and the mail, I refused to stop working or to sit down until I had a pot of pork chops cooking in turnip greens and another pot of pork chops cooking in black eyed peas – I was determined that those would cook for several hours and then be in the fridge so that I can heat them back up during the upcoming days. They are now cooling on the stove and will soon be in the fridge – I love them. However, from what I’ve tasted, I may have added a little (or WAY) too much hot pepper to them as they cooked. Maybe I just tasted them while they were too hot – time will tell. I suppose I can rinse off the chops and use new black eyed peas if needed. After getting them cooking, I did sit down and drink a Sprite – I felt maybe that would help me recover from the extreme exhaustion I was experiencing. I will not be eating or drinking any more sugar for awhile – I do not want to get addicted to that stuff again. NO WAY!!!
It’s not yet 8:00 in the evening but I expect to head toward bed fairly soon. I really am tired. However, I am going to try a couple of methods to remove the rest of my hair. My friends, who can see my scalp better than I can, say that I have lost a good bit of hair, but that what is left seems to be growing quite well!!! I’m ready for it to ALL go away so I have a couple of ideas of what I can do to help it along. I’ll tell you tomorrow what I did and how it worked!! Might be interesting!!
The only other side effect I’ve had today is that the front half of my tongue and my bottom lip were numb pretty much all day. (Shame it wasn’t numb when I tried those black eyed peas!) And the mouth sore on the corner of my mouth is back. Otherwise, I’m doing well – except for the tiredness. I really think I should make a strong effort to move – exercise a little and keep moving – but I don’t want to cause more fatigue. But if I stop moving, I know that I will lose the muscle tone I do have and I certainly don’t want to do that. I know of at least a couple of my friends and relatives who continued exercising at the gym or on the treadmill the entire time they were going through chemo and I think those are the examples I should be following – they are my inspirations!! So I’ll keep moving as much as I think I should.
I have lab tomorrow so that will be interesting. My throat has been a little sore but I’m choosing to believe it’s not related to the chemo but I’ll ask about that tomorrow. Wonder if it’s time to put on one of those masks when I go to the store!!!! Yikes, but I’ll do it if needed.
Melanie's Journey Through Cancer 