It's 3am... I wish I was asleep...

Yes, I'm really blogging at 3am. I've been meaning to post an update for a couple days now but haven't, so since I was up anyways, I figured I might as well go for it.

So far, the effects of my second chemo treatment have been milder than the first. For the first day or two, I felt fine but I noticed my taste buds were completely off. Nothing I ate or drank tasted normal. For example, I made a pitcher of kool-aid that was very sweet to Maria but I thought just tasted OK. Things that should have been salty or garlicky just tasted bland to me, like they were underseasoned.

Sunday was my tired day again, spent laying around most of the day. Monday too pretty much. I also started to feel a bit of the chemo pains that I experienced last time. I was dreading Wednesday since the Wednesday after my first chemo was one of the worst days of my life pain wise.

Tuesday and Wednesday (yesterday now) I was less tired but more run down feeling. I could feel the chemo pains more but they never got horrible or unbearable, just uncomfortable at times. I think Tuesday was worse pain wise, but still so much milder than the last time. I'm hoping that's a sign that future treatments won't be so painful. The run down feeling has been worrying me because it sort of feels like when you are getting a cold. You know it's coming and there is nothing you can do to stop it. That's how I've felt for a few days now, but really no other symptom of getting a cold. I really need to do my best to avoid getting sick while going through the chemo treatments since my body will not be able to fight off an infection like normal.

That brings me to why I'm awake and blogging at 3am. Well, there is one side effect I haven't wrote about yet because it's probably a bit TMI (too much information) for most people, and not something I normally talk about to friends and family. STOP READING HERE if you really don't want to know about the effects chemo can have on one's ability to go to the bathroom, specifically what I've been experiencing.

Unfortunately the chemo seems to affect a person's bathroom routine drastically and I have been no exception. The first couple days after treatment not much happens in the #2 department for me. I feel the need to go, but it just doesn't happen. Every so often a tumbleweed passes by me. After a few days, the exact opposite happens and I am in and out of the bathroom so often that my mail starts getting delivered there! Eventually things start to go back to normal and then it starts all over again after the next treatment. So things were finally getting back to normal in that department, but I think the stir-fry I ate for dinner last night did not agree with me and I've been making frequent runs to the restroom ever since. I think I fell asleep for a little bit tonight but woke up hot and sweaty and also had to go to the bathroom again. Since I need to make sure I don't have a fever, I check my temperature everyday. The fact that I was hot and had an upset stomach coupled with frequent trips to the potty was concerning to me. I checked my temperature using an ear thermometer, that I'm convinced is never accurate, and it kept coming back in the low 97 degrees, even upper 96 degrees, but somewhat different each time. That seemed low and freaked me out, so I knew I needed to be more accurate and came downstairs to get the oral thermometer. I decided to post this update while waiting for the results. 97.3 and 97.5 degrees were the results of the two checks using the oral thermometer. A bit lower than usual, but it is a bit chilly in here being the middle of the night and all. WebMD says 97 (I'm assuming 97.0) or lower is hypothermia, so I hope I don't go any lower. I definitely don't have a fever which is good. Now that I'm done with this update, I'm going to attempt to go back to bed. Hopefully I can fall asleep as its now 3:52am and I'm tired.