Chemo Update/Kevin can't sleep

It's Sunday morning, 6am, & pouring the rain. Seems like the perfect scenario for being asleep in bed and staying that way right? Not for me. As you know, one of the the side effects of chemotherapy is nausea (oddly enough, I cannot spell that word correctly in my head ever, it haunts me every time I type it, which is often lately...). On these weeks where I'm getting treatments 5 days straight, its a pain in the butt. Many of you have asked what chemo is like, so I thought since its keeping me up and I have jack shit to do right now, I'd let you know.
I'm sure there are many, many people who have had much worse experiences with chemo. When it comes down to it, with all of the support and what not, this hasn't been so bad of a go. I'm basically nauseous all of the time with my stomach because of the way the drugs attack fast multiplying cells in your body. Since your stomach has a lot of those (things I've learned) you get this as a side effect. Most people have vomiting, sometimes I would actually welcome it, but I've been lucky so far. You're really just mildly uncomfortable ALL the time, which I guess can be better or worse than expected, based on your outlook on life. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Canada Dry Ginger Ale and Premium brand saltine crackers, without them, I'd be miserable. Maybe thirsty and hungry too... Which is the other odd thing that you may not know about chemo. THE CRAVINGS. You know what I had for breakfast this morning? 2 Sonic Burgers. I actually woke up thinking about the buttery crust on their hamburger buns. Is this what pothead's do? Like, couldn't get the thought out of my brain that those sweet, buttery, buns filled with glorious meat would be what I needed to stop my stomach from turning itself inside out. It worked! Although, the family did stare at me quite weird as I scarfed them down, not that I cared.


I know that's an odd picture to put right in the middle of this, but it's the perfect segway to my next craving, plus its funny. After I nom'd nom'd all over those Sonic burgers and spent the rest of the day still nauseous (spelled it correctly again! BOOM! I'm on a roll) I got the craving for a blizzard from DQ. This happens about every 2 or 3 days. Always Oreo Cheesquake nothing else. God bless the man or woman who thought of oreo bits mixed with cheesecake and soft serve ice cream, blended to perfection. I'm sure we all have our favorites when it comes to Blizzards, whether its Butterfinger, Heath, or some combo of whatever, but Oreo cheesequake is mine, and they are glorious, but I resisted today. Actually, Suz and I went to Kroger and I got craving sidetracked for German Chocolate Cake (score!) and lost my chance at Dq as well. People will do a lot for you when you have cancer, but sometimes you have to know when you're asking too much. DQ and German Chocolate cake is too much. Actually, now I'm just wondering why they don't ave a German Chocolate Cake Blizzard. DAMMIT!!!!!!
Anyways, as you can see in my rambling, I guess it's comparable to the cravings pregnant women get only I didn't get knocked up. Otherwise, the chemo just made my hair fall out. That's really been about the extent of it. The nurses seem to think its due to my age and general good health that I've been able to withstand what they're throwing at me (which my oncologist referred to as the chemo kitchen sink, as I'm apparently getting a moderate to high dosage.) So YAY for tolerances...

I made a really cool poster about tolerances, but it won't let me attach it, so maybe I'll just put it in a separate post.