Cycle 3, Day 15

Monday 4th March 2019
“Always nap when you can. It is cheap medicine” —  Lord Byron

Well today marks the start of the last week, week 9 of 9 ! In my 36 and a half years of being, I don’t ever recall having two naps in a day. I would guess I was a little toddler the last time that happened. Until today…

I went to sleep about 11pm last night, and was woken around 7.30am with the usual getting ready for school/work routine going on in the house. I could have slept longer, I felt pretty tired but I’d have all day for that. It didn’t help that I woke at 4.20am prior to that, with back pain again, that really painful back spasming I’ve had twice now during the chemo. I’m pretty convinced it’s from bad posture and lots of sofa time, both of which I’ve been guilty of for a good number of days now. I tried to sleep but it got worse, so I took the paracetamol/codeine mix I have, and waited for it to kick in. I reckon I was back to sleep about 5am.

I dragged my butt out of bed at 8.30am, and drove the kids to school. That was an effort, and the weather was pretty unattractive this morning. The fresh air didn’t have a positive effect today. I went straight home, and went to lie on the bed because I was wasted. I messed on my laptop, reading news, looking at stuff to buy etc. Then at 10.30am, I was done, although I never really got going in the first place. It was nap time. I don’t recall a pre-lunchtime nap recently either.

My approach to work this week is simpler. Rather then hope I’m fit to go back every day, and take a mental hit when I’m not, I’ve assumed I won’t make it in all week. Things are still moving slowly, and if I feel well enough to work one day then thats a bonus. Saves a little day to day disappointment if I feel no better. Being ready for a nap at 10.30am suggests it was a good call today.

I slept until about 12.20pm, one of my longer naps. They are finally tarmacking our road after 2 and a half years of living here, so this involved sleeping through pneumatic drills while they repair the kerbs, which was no problem. From there, I sat in bed until about 1.15pm, then went for some lunch.

I hadn’t felt like breakfast, and didn’t have any, so I was now hungry. I did look up ordering some food in because I’m so tired, but I thought better and threw some easy food in the oven. I then watched TV until 3.20pm, and drove to school to pick the kids up. Again it was cold and windy, and it was an effort.

Back infront of the TV until about 5.15pm with the boys, by which time I’d run out of steam for a 2nd point in the day, lay down on the sofa and dozed off for 30 – 45 mins on and off again. When I woke up at 6pm, I still felt knackered, it took a coffee and about 30 mins to properly wake up.

I still wasn’t hungry until about 8.30pm, so I had some weetabix again because my appetite is still dodgy and I can stomach it easily, a bit of a backwards day.

Symptom wise, it’s still a relatively short list. I haven’t done a lot with my hands today, but they are still sore albeit a little less sore than yesterday. Turning a key or doing a zip up are still quite uncomfortable. Tinnitus is still regular, the fuzzy hearing still around also but becoming less frequently noticeable. Tiredness is still the main one by far, and getting out of breath way way way too easily. I only had to have 3 days of Filgrastim injections this time, Fri / Sat / Sun, so I hope that I’ll get a bit more energy back not having to deal with those.

I guess the only slight downside to having naps is that I don’t feel so tired at night. Its 10pm now and usually I’d be struggling badly to keep awake. Not so tonight though, although it’s starting. I’ll watch some youtube while Jayne works and that should send me a little sleepy.

I really despise day’s like today, but fully appreciate they are necessary, sleep is indeed a prescribed medication right now. By that I mean a full day lost to illness, where you do and accomplish virtually nothing. I’m usually all systems go and it feels very wasteful. I said to Jayne earlier today, I want to accomplish something tomorrow. We need milk and bread so I’ll see if I can get out briefly to get some. I feel like making a cake or a nice evening meal, something easy that will make me feel mentally a step above useless, without bowling me over physically.

Plus it’s pancake day tomorrow, so I’ll have to eat tactically to make sure I’m hungry at the right time in the evening. The kids load them with nutella, squirty cream, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, basically anything they can lay their hands on that is 50% sugar or more. For me it’s a simple pancake with sugar and lemon juice. Mmmmmmm. Something to look forward to 🙂