Just had the worst week (and a half) of fatigue ever. Thanks to a combination of chemo and my period, I was a hot mess.
I had got over the worst of my post-chemo nausea and was beginning to feel better. I was not expecting my period to show up but ‘Aunt Flo’ rocked up like a gatecrasher at a party and sapped all my energy for the whole week.
Most days I felt so drained, like a pig in an abattoir. One day I went for a 30 minute walk and resembled an old woman trying to walk up Mount Everest. I was so tired that I had to hold onto my mum instead of the other way round. But I did it and it felt like an accomplishment.
I felt better the next day so I went to do a bit of shopping and ended up having to sit down a few times, as the wall of fatigue would hit me and I could barely walk. Fatigue is frustrating because it makes you feel like you are lazy and that you must fight through the tiredness barrier. But you can’t. The only way to fight fatigue is to not fight it, but that meant I had to go to bed when I got home – again. It can leave you with a sense of guilt but, when that wall hits you it knocks you out, so all you can do is sit down, throw a blanket over yourself and REST. Some days I couldn’t be arsed to cleanse my face properly because it felt like a chore, despite promising to pamper myself whenever I could.
To relieve my extreme tiredness, I took everything I could find to boost my energy levels: vitamins, tonic, the lot. It helped but only up to a point, as I then discovered that my blood count was very low – too low to have my next chemo session. As a result, I needed immediate blood and iron transfusions and had to stay in hospital overnight as a precautionary measure. The transfusions were ok, although there were a couple of issues. Finding a decent vein proved slightly problematic and the cannula was deemed too narrow for the blood to go through after it had been put in (typical!) and I was concerned that they would have to take it out and put in a new one… but they didn’t. Huzzah!
Since my transfusions I feel much better and more energised, but I know that – come chemo time – things will go downhill for a few days before I pick up again. After a couple of rounds of chemo, it becomes routine – although not the sort of routine you want to keep up forever. Just got to keep on keepin’ on.
greatbiglump 