I posted yesterday, but thought perhaps I'd try again, hoping for a broader response today, or in the near future.
My husband was diagnosed with rectal cancer nearly 2 years ago, but didn't seek an oncologist's help until 5 weeks ago. He felt he was in the hands of "The Great Physician," and chose to believe that He would heal him. When the CAT scan was performed it revealed that the cancer was encapsulated in the 2 tumors, so God did have him in the palm of His hand.
My husband, Jim ( at 69 ) is a very young, positive minded man. The John Wayne type, which is why I fell in love with him - A total opposite of my first husband, praise God!! I am soon to be 60 and have had severe Fibromyalgia for the past 10 years. It appears that God has made me well enough in just the past 6 months to be able to care for my husband.
I was frightened of the symptoms that appeared after Jim's first chemo, and I am not looking forward to the second one. I do hope to become more informed, butI have trouble with my short term memory, so it is difficult to remember things at times. But so far, so good. What I am wondering is this:
Do you, with each chemo treatment, become progressively more fatigued and exhausted? Or is it basically the same as the one before? Can we expect a repeat of the first chemo experience? His symptoms consisted of total exhaustion - mouth sores and his eyes felt like there were cobwebs over them. Then he had the runs until we got a perscription. They told us that he would feel cold, and not to give him anything cold to eat while on chemo. Does this mean just when he is being dripped, or for the duration of all the chemo treatments?
Plans for radiation are in the works, but I honestly do not see how in the world I would be able to get him there for at least the first 9 days after chemo. He's just too out of it.
Hope someone who has a bit of energy will reply to my plea for help. The more informed I become, the better I will feel. I've been depressed and lonely, but know I'll get through it. Just lost my only son to an accidental overdose two and a half years ago, so I do know we can always endure more than we think we can.
My love, support & blessings to all of you here,
Snooksiam