A blog targeted for friends and family, and also folks who may be going through this journey in the future, in the hopes it gives them better understanding of what's to come. (DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor, I'm an IT consultant. You'd be a fool to consider what I say here as medical advice. I'm merely reporting my experience. If you have medical questions, ask your doctor).

Chemotherapy Cycle 4 & 5 (Jun 2 - Jul 13) Life happens, but keep fighting

Cycle 4 and 5 are in the books. They featured more of the same from a chemotherapy and side effects perspective, but a lot of life changes to deal with.

Cardiology Issues
The chest pains are still there, but mild, and I generally know what triggers them. Exercise and heat. So, I avoid those things when I'm on the pills and I'm mostly ok. It's frustrating though, as I enjoy taking walks with my wife, and exercise is otherwise good for me. 

I don't enjoy taking the new cardiology pills (I take 3 different meds per day). They have their own set of side effects, but my cardiologist assures me that when the chemo is over, we'll taper off the strongest drug, and just get back to common every day BP control medication(s).

Fatigue/Malaise
Every cycle, this is getting more severe, lasts longer in it's peak, and takes longer to taper down. Cycle 5 was particularly difficult, with me sleeping the day away on days 2-4, and some on day 5. I have little energy on these days to do much. Work is very difficult. I generally am lucky to get a half day's worth of work in.

Life
The biggest issue these last 6 weeks have been life events outside the chemo. 
  • Our 20 year old daughter moved out, and our nest is empty. It's bittersweet, but takes some getting used to. I'm proud of her. She's doing great.
  • My wife's sister lost her battle with muscular dystrophy at age 45. Jodie will be greatly missed.
  • I had to undergo another minor surgery to remove to small lesions on my stomach (that proved to be non-cancerous).
  • And of course, we're all dealing with COVID and other unrest in the US.



Bottom Line
I'm lucky. My prognosis is strong at this point. Chemotherapy protocols for colon cancer are "milder" than other protocols. And overall, for all the people getting this protocol, I'm handling it pretty well (setting aside the cardiac drama). I've had NO nausea/vomiting. no hair loss. no hand/foot syndrome.

Having said that... this sucks. It's a marathon. The fatigue/malaise is awful. And maybe I'm simply a wimp, but I don't know how others handle the tougher chemo protocols. I guess you have no choice. And I admit that the life issues listed above put a further damper on these last two cycles.

Three cycles to go, then I move into the monitoring phase where I get tested and scanned and scoped on a regular basis... for the rest of my life. 

One day at a time, keep fighting, and carry on!!

Want even more details? Check my daily Chemo Symptoms Log in the sidebar.



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