Thursday, September 30, 2010

Hot Flashes and a Head Cold

What a combination!

It's been more than 2 weeks since my last and final chemo and I'm finally writing once again. That high on Wednesday was short-lived. I crashed and burned Thursday and Friday, and slowly rebounded as the weekend progressed. The usual nausea, sensitivity to smells and most foods, fogginess, and quite lethargic.

And the hot flashes continued. Yes they did. And still are.

Chemo can push your body into menopause. Is that where they're coming from, and are they here to stay? Oh I hope not.

Haven't had a good night's sleep since these hot flashes started, which could contribute further to my state of rundownness (my word). Which in turn made it easier for me to pick up Nick's cold-that-we-thought-was-aggrevated-allergies. Started with a sore throat last Thursday and a low grade fever. Evolved into a full blown head cold with sore eyes. Muscle-sore, as in hurts to move them. A very strange symptom indeed, but Nick and I compared notes and discovered that it must indeed be a symptom of this strain of cold virus, as he had it too.

Feeling occasional chills with this cold just added to the extremes that the hot flashes bring. Cold, cold, shivering, bundle yourself from head to toe kind of chills, then, wham, a hot flash. Throw off the blankets and try to expose as much as possible, to cool this top to bottom heat. Anything covered feels even hotter, as if the heat is trapped, becoming more intense as it tries to escape.

Anyone who has experienced hot flashes knows what I'm talking about. I'm obviously much more of a complainer than my Mom. She went through this for years. I witnessed them on many occasionals. She might tug at her collar and fan herself a bit, but that was the extent of it.

After a week of the cold, and the fatigue that seems to plague me more week 3 than week 2, I'm looking forward to next Tuesday, the first '3rd' Tuesday in the last few months, that will be chemo free. I'm anxious to see how I'll be feeling then, and how much better food will taste!

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