Donny's first chemo treatment was on Tuesday afternoon and other than peeing red (side effect from the chemo), he was pretty normal after the treatment. Wednesday he started to not feel well. Not that he was sick, but he definitely wasn't well. I asked Donny how he was feeling and he said, "Not good, but not bad." Since that didn't really help me, I asked him to relate how he was feeling to something...mono, the flu, a cold...something. He responded that he couldn't relate it to anything because he's never felt like that before. He said it wasn't nausea, but more like an upset stomach and bloating almost.
One of the side effects of the chemo is skin discoloration and reddening of the face. Well, his face was so red on Wednesday and Thursday that I was convinced he had a fever. And the directions the nurse gave us said that if Donny got a fever over 100.5, we needed to go to the ER. So I kept checking if he had a fever, I was driving him nuts. At first I would just feel his forehead, but after a while he got annoyed, so I had to get creative. I would go up to him and give him a kiss on the forehead, or hug him so I could get my cheek next to his. He caught on to those tactics too. "Will you stop? I promise you, I will tell you if I feel feverish." He scolded me with a smile because he couldn't get mad at me. I kept apologizing, but his face was so red, it wasn't natural, I just could not help it.
Thursday was pretty similar to Wednesday, Donny went to work, came home, ate and went to bed by 8:30 pm. He wasn't hungry, but if I gave him food, he ate it all. He didn't feel good, but he didn't feel awful. Friday, however, was rough. Thank God he had a half day because the second he got home, he went straight to sleep. Donny was exhausted and told me he felt like he got hit by a bus. He was sore, nauseous, coughing and just felt like crap. That night we had his family party to go to, so when I got home from work, I made the appetizer I was supposed to bring (buffalo chicken dip, so naturally, I had to make some for Donny), and got ready to go. But the poor guy just didn't look good and I could tell he didn't feel good, so as much as I wanted to go to his cousin's, I felt awful leaving him. So I offered to stay home. And this is why I love him. Donny looked at me and said, "Don't be silly, you've been looking forward to this all week. Go." I double checked to see if he was sure and he added, "Plus, you need to go so you can bring me home some cake." LOL
I am very thankful that Donny let me go. Some of you may be reading this thinking, "How could she leave him? That's not right. She should be by his side if he is sick." But here's my defense: this treatment is cumulative, meaning, the more chemo he receives, the worse his symptoms will be. And there is going to be 6 months of this treatment. So, if Donny is feeling well enough for me to leave him for a couple of hours, I need to take that opportunity. Because I know that there will be times where I can't leave him. And during those times, I will be by his side no matter what with a smile and love in my heart. But in order for me to take care of Donny during those times, I need to take care of myself too. I am not the type of person who can sit inside for days and watch TV. I go stir crazy and get really anxious and Donny knows this about me. So he promised that he will be completely honest with me. If he needs me or even wants me to be there so he won't be alone, I will be there in a heart beat. But if he feels well enough that I can go out for a couple of hours, I can go out. Plus, I think Donny enjoyed a quite house with no wife home to worry over him.
Each day after Friday got better and better. Saturday he started to come out of it, but started to get really sore. So the two made a switch. The less nauseous he felt, the more sore he got. Although Sunday his stomach felt almost normal, his chest and back were very sore and he was very uncomfortable. Because his chest is so tight, he gets really uncomfortable laying down, so sleeping has been an issue. I never thought I'd say this, but thank God he has his La-Z-Boy chair. It allows him to sleep sitting up, so he is more comfortable. But it's lonely without him! And in our small apartment, it's a spacial issue when Donny goes to bed in the middle of our living room at 7pm. I didn't know what to do with myself last week when he was going to bed so early. Our apartment consists of a living room, kitchen and bedroom, so there isn't a lot of common space. But I guess that's the least of my worries! At least Donny is sleeping.
Both Monday and today Donny has worked a full day at school and then has worked security for the St. Pat's basketball games. So, needless to say he is feeling a lot better. His chest is still tight, but he has a lot more energy. Hopefully he'll keep feeling better and better each day and the soreness goes away.
Donny went down to Northwestern today for blood work and we'll hear if anything is abnormal, but he should be good to go.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
One of the side effects of the chemo is skin discoloration and reddening of the face. Well, his face was so red on Wednesday and Thursday that I was convinced he had a fever. And the directions the nurse gave us said that if Donny got a fever over 100.5, we needed to go to the ER. So I kept checking if he had a fever, I was driving him nuts. At first I would just feel his forehead, but after a while he got annoyed, so I had to get creative. I would go up to him and give him a kiss on the forehead, or hug him so I could get my cheek next to his. He caught on to those tactics too. "Will you stop? I promise you, I will tell you if I feel feverish." He scolded me with a smile because he couldn't get mad at me. I kept apologizing, but his face was so red, it wasn't natural, I just could not help it.
Thursday was pretty similar to Wednesday, Donny went to work, came home, ate and went to bed by 8:30 pm. He wasn't hungry, but if I gave him food, he ate it all. He didn't feel good, but he didn't feel awful. Friday, however, was rough. Thank God he had a half day because the second he got home, he went straight to sleep. Donny was exhausted and told me he felt like he got hit by a bus. He was sore, nauseous, coughing and just felt like crap. That night we had his family party to go to, so when I got home from work, I made the appetizer I was supposed to bring (buffalo chicken dip, so naturally, I had to make some for Donny), and got ready to go. But the poor guy just didn't look good and I could tell he didn't feel good, so as much as I wanted to go to his cousin's, I felt awful leaving him. So I offered to stay home. And this is why I love him. Donny looked at me and said, "Don't be silly, you've been looking forward to this all week. Go." I double checked to see if he was sure and he added, "Plus, you need to go so you can bring me home some cake." LOL
I am very thankful that Donny let me go. Some of you may be reading this thinking, "How could she leave him? That's not right. She should be by his side if he is sick." But here's my defense: this treatment is cumulative, meaning, the more chemo he receives, the worse his symptoms will be. And there is going to be 6 months of this treatment. So, if Donny is feeling well enough for me to leave him for a couple of hours, I need to take that opportunity. Because I know that there will be times where I can't leave him. And during those times, I will be by his side no matter what with a smile and love in my heart. But in order for me to take care of Donny during those times, I need to take care of myself too. I am not the type of person who can sit inside for days and watch TV. I go stir crazy and get really anxious and Donny knows this about me. So he promised that he will be completely honest with me. If he needs me or even wants me to be there so he won't be alone, I will be there in a heart beat. But if he feels well enough that I can go out for a couple of hours, I can go out. Plus, I think Donny enjoyed a quite house with no wife home to worry over him.
Each day after Friday got better and better. Saturday he started to come out of it, but started to get really sore. So the two made a switch. The less nauseous he felt, the more sore he got. Although Sunday his stomach felt almost normal, his chest and back were very sore and he was very uncomfortable. Because his chest is so tight, he gets really uncomfortable laying down, so sleeping has been an issue. I never thought I'd say this, but thank God he has his La-Z-Boy chair. It allows him to sleep sitting up, so he is more comfortable. But it's lonely without him! And in our small apartment, it's a spacial issue when Donny goes to bed in the middle of our living room at 7pm. I didn't know what to do with myself last week when he was going to bed so early. Our apartment consists of a living room, kitchen and bedroom, so there isn't a lot of common space. But I guess that's the least of my worries! At least Donny is sleeping.
Both Monday and today Donny has worked a full day at school and then has worked security for the St. Pat's basketball games. So, needless to say he is feeling a lot better. His chest is still tight, but he has a lot more energy. Hopefully he'll keep feeling better and better each day and the soreness goes away.
Donny went down to Northwestern today for blood work and we'll hear if anything is abnormal, but he should be good to go.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
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