one flu over flori's cuckoo nest...a little set-back

[SoCalGal]

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. First my daughter had the stomach flu. OK - it happens. Then it was my turn. Had to put my chemo off. Then, instead of getting well, I was feeling worse and worse each day. My daughter was hiking after 3 days. But she's 19 so I figured it would take me a few more days. Then had to put my chemo off another week. Then yesterday I felt really weird - exhausted and very unable to think. So I called the onc's office to tell them that something was really wrong with me. It was creepy. Of course, anyone who is ANYONE is out of town this week, so that includes all my doctors. Long story longer, I went in to the chemo lounge and they checked my blood. I was almost out of sodium & potassium! Ooops. My bad. I guess that stuff is pretty important.

All kidding aside, it made me realize how much I suck it up every day. So much so, I could no longer tell the difference between normal Tykerb-Herceptin-Avastin-Zometa fatigue & depletion & the complete lack of energy and worse - BRAIN power that finally had me call the doc. I think many of us here start each day by pushing forward, sucking it up, gaining enough momentum to be propelled thru the day. Isn't that called Survival? It really is a difficult lifestyle, yet I continue to do it, happily, every day.

Tomorrow will be my last of 3 days of a 4 hour long hydration infusion. Trying to replace what flu out of me. Not quite the vacation I hoped for these two weeks. And then hopefully next week I'll resume my drippity-drips.

My advice: don't run out of potassium & sodium. It'll mess you up!

Happy New Year, with wishes for blessings to all,
Flori

[Margerie]

Flori,

Glad to hear they are filling up your tank :) I don't think you need this kind of excitement on your vacation :O

A similar thing happened to my mom, she finished up chemo for ovarian cancer not too long ago, but it was a rough last two rounds. She had recently gotten a flu bug, recovered she thought, but she was still fatigued. She woke up in the middle of the night with a huge headache. She actually had gotten up to go to the bathroom and passed out/hit her head on her bathroom scale and her head was bleeding. Anyway, she is fine now. Her potassium, etc. was all fouled up. Scary!!

So I guess a good call is to make sure you have some powerade on hand in case of flu.

Your avatar is priceless, what a personality on that dog, and he is pretty cute too!

[Mary Anne in TX]

flori, you are totally priceless!
You are so right that this crew just sucks it up and presses on day by day! It truly is a balancing act of which direction to press into each day!
Goofy and stressed and out of gas is so normal so often, I think we get to thinking it's what is!
Glad you called the docs and you're on the mend. Please take care. I like you being our energizer bunny!
ma

[Rich66]

Yeah..potassium can be a biggie. Mom was on the road getting a second opinion/workup when they called her cell and demanded she come in for a potassium rider (IV infusion). She was on oral supplements but had been less than religious about them. Low potassium can lead to heart problems. Might be wise to ask for more frequent (weekly) labs to track it.

[WomanofSteel]

Sorry things have been crazy for you. It is true though, it's hard to distinguish between chemo sick and just plain sick. Glad you are on the mend.

[tricia keegan]

Sorry to hear you've been so down Flori, when going through chemo I could'nt tell the difference either!
Take care and feel better soon. xx

[Mary Jo]

Happy to read you are on the mend Flori....geez....never a dull moment, huh? Is that what makes life so exciting? LOL! NOT!

Happy New Year to you too sweet sister,

Mary Jo

[jml]

Yowze, Flori!
Hope you're starting to feel better & sounds like you're on your way to getting back on your feet.

We endure SO MUCH with this disease!
It is hard to distinguish what "normal" is/was/can be.
I think we get so used to feeling puny & crummy and just soldier through all the crappy side effects.
Personally, I prefer not to call my docs for every complication, but this can be a blessing and a curse!
After finishing up 7 weeks of rads for a supraclav recurrences, I was feeling really crappy -
thought it was just "Radiation Syndrome" and bad, really bad Ragweed allergies!
Turns out, I was in ACUTE RENAL FAILURE -
the docs jokingly said, 'Wow, you look pretty darn good for being in Renal Failure'!
I ended up in the ER (while on a business trip), emergency surgery to stent my ureters/kidneys
to get them open & working again, then in ICU for 4 days b/c I diuresed 1500cc's of fluid in <1hr,
and b/c my electrolytes (including K+ & Na+)were so out of whack, I was having seizures.
Fortunately by the grace of God and the amazingly resilient human body, my kidneys bounced back,
almost like nothing happened. (I still have the stents which are an uncomfortable pain in the a**).

So I guess we all resolve to this new normal, but I still find myself a little surprised how good it feels to be off
treatment, and have a little laugh when I catch myself saying "Wow, is this what it feels like to be off chemo?"

Here's to a NEW normal in 2010 - still surviving & thriving~

Keep the Faith,

Jml

[caya]

Sorry to hear you've had a bit of aggravation, Flori - it's true that it is hard to distinguish "regular" sick from "chemo" sick.
Glad you are on the mend, eat those bananas..

Happy New Year, lets' hope 2010 brings the cure.

all the best
caya

[Sheila]

Flori
Glad to know the problem is behind you...amazing the things we plug along with thinking "this must be normal considering"....you are an important reminder to us to get things checked when we feel even more unusual than we usually do....glad you are OK.....keep on keepin on!!!!!

[hutchibk]

Twinkie! Eat your bananas... drink your gatorade...

Your post is a great description of the tightrope we walk physically while on weird and novel treatment combos. We get used to little quirks that are totally tolerable and we learn how to manage them. But oops, then suddenly something comes along that tips the boat just enough that it is hard to tell the diff between a little bit rougher week or something completely new and separate going on. I ended up in the ER on Christmas day with all H1N1 Flu like symptoms except for fever. I felt crummier than crummy. I also had a fantastic little prickly red rash across my cheeks and nose that I had never ever seen before... but, it was not H1N1, just a crappy cold virus that took my body hostage. All is much better now, but lots of sleep, water, Sudafed, Robitussin, Mucinex, Vitamin C, Saline spray, blah blah blah, and I am on the mend.

Take care Twinks. Hope you get your drips soon!

[Jackie07]

Eat 'banana sanwich' (with mayonase) every day for prevention.

[Cal-Gal]

Hello Flori-

Thanks for sharing this great advice and reminding us how important our 'electrolytes' are--mine are tested once a week just prior to my Herceptin infusion--I always get a copy and make sure I am monitoring these numbers--I have also been low in Calcium-and a few other 'needed to stay alive' electrolytes--these have caused me side effects that were knocking my socks off, but when tested explained what I was going through and what I needed to do--

Thanks again---important stuff---