The Untalk-about-able Thing

This last session has gone pretty good. I really only felt crappy for about five days after treatment-- so that’s not so bad. I asked my doc for a referral to my physical therapist for the pain in my lower back. Since I have a large herniated disk in that area, the bone pain is most noticeable in my lower back and hip and shoulder joints. Randy, the miracle-working P.T. is going to take a look at me again next week when I feel it most after the Neulasta. The stretches he gave me this week are already helping with the tightness and cramps in my left leg, but we’ll see what can be done next week when I am truly achy.

On top of the P.T. I see Deborah, my magical massage therapist every two weeks. She unkinks all the knots and pressure points that form when I let my shoulders crawl up to my earlobes, or when I brace my core for abdominal/back pain from the constipation. Yeah, I said it…I talked about the untalk-about-able thing called bathroom issues. I manage it pretty well, but most of my crappy feeling involves this issue. This might be TMI for some of you (especially my boss—sorry if you read this), but it is part of the truth of my chemo side effects. Trust me, a great visit to the “pooh parlor division” has become a triumphant moment for me.

A couple of nights this week I have not been sleeping well, so I have been fatigued at work. I am not sure if it is just the not sleeping thing since I did sleep good last night but was still exhausted today, or if it is the lasting fatigue I’ll have through most of the cancer treatment. I hope it is just a lack of sleep.