Off To A Shaky Start

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had not really recovered since the last round, even though we had four weeks between infusions. I kept feeling weak, tired, and not at all like I could go for walks or small hikes like after my fourth round. Mentally and physically, I don't feel ready for this round. 

The infusion itself went without a hitch, although I started getting hot flashes during the infusion! That’s a first, as far as I can remember. If there's good news it's that our new oncolologist (see bottom paragraph) suggested that we reduce my dosage of Docetaxel by 20%. I would have very much appreciated that offer after the nightmare of the first round but our previous oncologist would only "negotiate" with weeks between infusions, not dosage. Even for my supposed last round, though, I'll take the reduction! New oncologist said that it should make no difference in efficacy, especially at this point in my treatments. 

So yes, the hot flashes started atypically early. They continued through the afternoon and evening. I had at least a dozen of them in that time, I swear. 

My wife and I have a now-typical evening routine we enjoy that involves having our dinner while we settle in to watch a movie or some of the British mysteries we love. Date nights, if you will, almost every night! She has her glass or two of wine and I've learned that about an hour before we start is a good time to have a gummy. They take an hour or two to kick in. Then I have another near the middle-to-end of our show and I get NICE and relaxed for going to bed later. (I won't deny that enjoying our movie or shows with a little buzz is nice, too.)

The first sign of trouble, last night, was that my first gummy never seemed to kick in. I took a second, more potent one a couple hours later, and even then didn’t feel much from it. Just before bed, I took a third gummy (now a little over 75mg hemp-derived THC) with very little payoff. I definitely think my body’s reaction to THC is altered greatly by Docetaxel. This is far from the first time the chemo has prevented me from catching a good buzz and a good night's rest.

I went to bed shortly after 11pm. It was a cold night, so I tossed and turned for a while, not realizing that I wasn’t getting cozy enough to fall fully asleep. That went on until around 2:30am when I had to pee. I may have gotten an hour's sleep during that time? When I came back to bed, I spent some time replacing the light top blanket (that was more than enough the night before) with a much thicker blanket. I got back into bed, started getting warmed up, then felt a hot flash coming on. I rarely get them at night. I’m freezing when I get into bed and, within seconds of getting under warm blankets, I’m burning up. Finding some sort of equilibrium took some time and strategic blanket arranging.

 

After finally getting my temperature regulated, I curled up on my side to get some good sleep. HA! Restless leg syndrome kicks in, along with some other random nerve weirdness in my hips and toes. Foolishly, I was so desperate for sleep that I closed my eyes and hoped it would all “just go away”... It didn't. Somewhere after 4:30am, I took 15mg of dispensary THC in hopes that something would put me out for a few hours! This was not to be. No adjustment of blankets, pillow, body position, music, silence, or herbal supplements allowed me to get back to sleep. I got a lot of "rest" last night (hereby defined as me being horizontal with my eyes closed) but maybe two hours of actual sleep at most. 

 

I have a feeling it’s going to be a very “nappy” day for me. 

 

*People are always curious when I mention my "new oncologist". The regular oncologist at our Cancer Center retired at the end of last year. We never met him. Since his permanent replacement was not scheduled to start until September, we spent the first five months of our cancer battle (April through August) with a knowledgeable-but-temporary oncologist.