Chemotherapy

This Cancer Journey Chemotherapy

I started chemotherapy on the same day I first went to Dr Peyton. Etoposide and Carboplatin.  I went 3 days every third week.  This regimen was recommended for small cell lung cancer. This was effective, but it produced a lot of undesirable results which most people associate with cancer treatments.  Most of your senses are affected.  Sense of smell, sense of taste, hair falling out, and the sickness which is associated with the treatments.  

Foods that you normally like to eat suddenly don’t taste good any more. The smell of pizza made me feel sick.  Pizza, bacon, eggs were always some of my favorite foods, but the smell sickened me while I was on chemo..  Only very bland foods tasted good.  Fruits, vegetables, toast.  I weighed 250 lbs when I started chemo, but I weighed less than 220 after the 6 week regimen.

I asked my wife to remove her plug in air fresheners from the house.  The smell sickened me.

I will never forget the night that I woke up with hair all over my pillow and face. I went from having a lot of hair to none.

I slept with a trash can near my bed during chemo treatments.  I was prone to wake up in the night ready to vomit.  In addition, I continued my job during this time. I closed my office door and vomited in a trash can at work.  

I pray you don’t, but if you ever have a loved one that goes through this, keep in mind that their world is different than yours while in Chemo.  They sense things that you do not sense.  The sickness they feel is very real.  Be very patient with them.  This period of time was the sickest I have ever felt in my life.  Be kind with your loved ones and fully expect them to be a little “cranky”.