First FOLFOX

The major problem with the plan I had for yesterday afternoon was that the first medication they gave me was an anti-nausea drug which left me so woozy that I only got a third of an inch done on the socks and barely started the novel I'd brought. However, I did beat Jerry at Scrabble, wooziness notwithstanding. (He never, ever gives me a break because of my condition; I always take advantage of the fact that he's concerned, anxious, worried about me. It's the secret of my occasional success.)

He went out for a walk in our beautiful almost-summer weather while I got pumped full of the various kinds of stuff. Then, eventually, the nurse brought over the fanny pack and pump and showed us how to use them. No-brainer, except in case of leakage. The stuff is poisonous, so most of the concern there is to make sure it doesn't get all over everything. Or cloggage, in which case you call either of the two numbers on the info sheet, though the nurse warned, "Just don't call the doctors. They don't know anything about this stuff." Or (we are, after all, in the 21st century), terrorist attack. I'm not sure why they stuck that into the packet, but it did pad it out nicely.

We got home and I immediately started in on more anti-nausea meds. The basic rule is to take the meds just before you need them, not after.

The only problems came after we went to bed. I put the pack, nicknamed La Bomba, on the headboard and thanks to my practice over the past few nights managed not to get tangled in the 45" of tubing. But I felt a lot of nausea, pain from my rotator cuffs, and to top it off, a bad case of the Periodic Limb Movement/Restless Legs Syndrome I've had a lot lately. So there I was, twitching, sore, and holding the Stoneyfield yogurt container lovingly to my breast, just in case. I felt rather as though I were inhabited by a thunderstorm. Jerry, of course, was awake and sympathetic for the whole thing, and as usual felt helpless, which upsets him even more.

I finally got up and took a whole bunch of pills, hoping that they wouldn't work against each other. Go figure -- I slept better than I have for weeks.