Two and a half months ago my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We are now at the half way mark with his chemotherapy treatments. They are not what I expected. In my mind I pictured lots of pain and vomiting. Thanks to research, mostly in the past decade, "there is a pill for that"! His biggest side effect is non stop hiccups. There's a pill that stops them within 30 minutes. There are a few days each cycle that he's nauseous....there's a pill to take that away. When the white blood count goes too low, there's a shot for that. And I discovered today that the steroids he takes, keep the allergic reactions to the toxic drugs at bay.
The steroids also give him a fierce appetite...non stop grazing! I have to remind myself that it's better he has his head in the refrigerator than the commode... A few women (including his doctor) have told me that the steroids will make him grumpy and mean. I haven't found that to be true....
The hardest thing for him/us is that he cannot afford to be around sick people....which translates to "keep away from crowds" especially when the white count is very low. It's summer and we usually have friends over for picnics and parties. But not this summer. We're invited to picnics and parties; but are staying home this summer. I go to my daughter's to see my grandchildren; I miss taking them to my house to play and having them spend the night.
I thank God it's summer, and we can open the windows and let the summer breezes blow through. We can sit on the porch and watch the neighborhood children playing. We can sit on the deck and watch the birds and the animals come to the pond. We are also getting a lot of books read this summer! And once in a while we get in the '57 Chevy and go for a drive for ice cream.
I'm so glad its summer and you've been able to keep the germs at bay. I hope September doesn't bring an onslaught if sickness. We can't wait until he beats this cancer!
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