Ba da, Ba da, Ba da, Ba da...Feelin' Groovy

Yes, drugs are a wonderful thing. Those of you with children, my apologies if they read this over your shoulder and get the wrong impression. But I can't say enough about the drugs my doctors have me on. They are working wonders, really making this treatment somewhat tolerable.

I've got TussinEX, a cough medicine laced with hydrocodone, to keep me from coughing myself off the radiation table. (Moving targets are bad.) It also gives me a little cough relief at night when I'm trying to sleep. It is supposed to make me loopy, and I'm not supposed to drive, so I get a ride to radiation every morning (different people from church and the neighborhood have stepped forward, schedule coordinated by good friends Christine and Tracy).

I also have Femara, my old friend that is keeping the breast cancer at bay. This is a different cancer, remember? Squamous cell? Because who wants to deal with breast cancer when you've got this other cancer going on?

And I have Nystatin, for thrush, which I had in my mouth (from when I was taking Prednisone). Although the thrush is gone from my mouth, I still take that medicine because the radiation can cause it in my esophagus. It is a sickly sweet liquid that makes me want to yak! Ugh!

Speaking of Prednisone, my oncologist just prescribed that for me the other day. I've had a weird pressure in my ribcage the past few days, and she's concerned that there is inflamation somewhere in there....maybe the liver, maybe just the tumor reacting to treatment. But to be safe, she wants me to take a low dose of the steroid for the next week. I'm fine with that, it's a puppy-upper sort of pill and I'll take all the pep I can get!

Beginning Wednesday nights and usually continuing through Sunday morning, I take Compazine, an anti-nausea pill. That settles my stomach better than gingerale or any comfort food! I've only taken one dose this morning--it's a 4-times-a-day pill--and haven't given it a second thought. Of course, now that I'm talking about it, my stomach is starting to go all queasy on me.

So I guess this is a good time to wrap up this little drug overview and say TTFN (Tigger talk, means "ta-ta for now").

By the way, I am feeling pretty good today, which is great for a Thursday after Tuesday chemo. I fell asleep on the sofa for a few hours over lunchtime, woke up feeling sleepy but not sick. Thank goodness for the little things!