WEIRD SIDE EFFECTS FROM CHEMO...

Losing my taste during the summer was weird. I couldn't taste strawberries or cherry pie! The only thing I could taste was salty stuff so that's what I ate- Mexican food, eggs with salt on top, chips, mashed potatoes, tuna sandwiches. I guess it's like having a cold and you can't taste anything. It's been a year now and I'm still not back 100%, especially with fruit flavors.

I was old enough that chemo put me into permanent menopause. I was happy to see Aunt Flo go away forever but the price was nuclear hot flashes! If I move around too much doing housework, let alone anything that actually qualifies as exercise, I get too warm and sweat covers my whole body in an instant. I have to wear summer jammies in the winter and be ready to throw off the blankets at a moment's notice. In the summer, it's a losing battle. Just breathing makes me get a hot flash. It's been a year and I am still "flashing."

I was so sleepy for about a week after each chemo treatment. It was the killed off red blood cells that made me anemic and tired. I'd get up for breakfast, go back to bed, get up for lunch, go back to bed, help my daughter with home and eat dinner, go back to bed until the next morning. Thank goodness my mom lived with us for 4 months to help out. XOXOXO to my "mommy."

How do I put this delicately? Let's just say "things" become thin and delicate as if I were 30 years older. The permanant menopause effect threw me into the world of geriatric intimate issues. It would have been nice to ease my way into this arena slowly over the years but unfortunately I was suddenly thrown into the deep end of this pool. The doctor wants me to try estrogen cream. Hope I didn't make you blush!

I usually did my chemos on Mondays. I received an IV bag of anti-nausea medicine there and pills for home and "tolerated" my treatments pretty well except for one thing - travel sickness - I would get car sick before even going a mile for the rest of the week. So even if I felt great and wanted to make a quick dash to the store, I stayed home for the next few days.