Monday, July 26, 2010

This Ain't No Mudd Club / Or C.B.G.B. / I Ain't Got Time For that Now

And just like that it all starts again. Back to the nausea, sense of taste all whacked. The Chemo is working.

I just took a two hour nap, trying to beat the window before the I.V. Steroid kinks in and I *can't* sleep tonight. When I laid down a fresh chicken burrito from Chipotle or Burrito Loco with beans and cheese and sour cream was sounding awesome.

That was then, this is now. With the first waves of nausea starting up, I know that the best thing is to get some food in me or it will only get worse. Nothing sounded good, so after staring at cupboards and fridge for awhile I selected a plain organic brown-rice ricecake. For the record, this really didn't sound good either, and they're bland at the best of times. But the blandness was what I was after. It tasted like cardboard, or maybe more like moldy cardboard. One of those off-taste moments like swigging milk right after drinking lemonade.

My stomach nearly rejected the first bite, and honestly it tasted terrible. Bland would have been preferable. I just had one from the same pack with peanut butter on it a couple of days ago and it actually tasted good and slightly sweet. Today, I ate 3/4 of the ricecake and am still getting up the courage to eat the last bite. At least it settled the stomach a bit.

The catch 22 of all of this is the lack of hunger and the odd sense of taste and smell leading to lack of eating, which leads to nausea, which makes me *not* want to eat, which makes the nausea worse. It's a weight loss plan that is ironically doctor-caused yet not doctor approved. I lost 10 pounds in the first week of chemo.

I don't recommend the process or the other side effects, but not eating at all sure makes the pounds fly right off.

7 comments:

Deborah in MN said...

I love your transparency and bravery but I sure hate what you're going through. I wish I could make it go away.

Eclector2 said...

Can you get down fluids, like juice? Apricot juice is often soothing. How about just water with a little juice and sugar in it? Anything to keep something in the stomach. Remember that plain old saltine crackers were on the recommended anti nausea list. I will get you juices of your choosing tomorrow.

cmmastro said...

From morning sickness - goldfish crackers or the like eaten consistently during the day. Like all the time. Keep something in your stomach for your stomach to work on.

Eclector2 said...

I am coming over with crackers, popsicles, juice, etc. See you soon. Mom

Anonymous said...

I was thinking of morning sickness too, I felt nauseated, wouldn't eat, the empty stomach felt even worse so I really wouldn't eat, eventually I would try to eat or drink and then puke. For me it would end in the ER with anti-nausea drugs that knocked me out, I would pig out and get some iv fluids and be good for a while. Punch line: stay on top of it!
RHD

Anonymous said...

Your courage, which may be all you have at times, comes through clearly. (Incidentally, just reading about your nausea makes me feel faintly nauseous.)

--He Who Must Not, etc., who might as well come out of the closet. It's me, Mike's dad, Dave. I'm the one with prostate cancer. No big deal so far; they're just keeping an eye on it.)I'll just sign myself "D" from now on, but continue to post as anonymous, just because the Google process of becoming anyone with an actual name is impenetrable.

Lemony said...

For the blandest of the bland, may I recommend whole wheat couscous? I just got some from the bulk section at Seward yesterday, and yowza, if cooked with water, it's bland, indeed. You could also try plain malt-o-meal. While it's not organic, it is fortified, so it's a nice delivery system for some calcium, iron and folic acid when the idea of taking vitamin is repellant.

When I had morning sickness, sometimes cool water with just a little apple cider vinegar mixed in would help, but I'm not sure your current supertasting abilities would approve...

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