Last week’s blood count wasn’t entirely unexpected--my oncologist says few patients make it through chemo without a “time-out.” What was unexpected--to me--was the fatigue and nausea that followed me around like the black cloud above Joe Btfsplk.
The nausea (and granted, I wasn’t taking my anti-nausea pills because things were manageable up to that point) started at work. Within seconds of the first wave, I was on my hands and knees, vomiting into a trash can, and praying a client wouldn’t walk in the door. I left work and went to bed, where I stayed the rest of the day and most of the next.
The fatigue snuck up more subtly. I find myself going to bed earlier and earlier, sometimes by 6pm. I get up later and later. By the end of the day I’m practically worthless at work, and I take a nap as soon as I get home.
The co-pay for three Neupogen injections turned out to be $2040 for the week. If we didn’t have insurance, it would have been over $11,000.
