If it's not one thing, it's another

It's Day 17 after my first chemo. Every day, I have a different set of side effects and symptoms. There's always at least one thing happening with my body although after Day 9, the problems became more irritating than serious.

Here's a record of my side effects and symptoms starting from Day 1 of Chemo #1 (from memory, so the list may be slightly inaccurate):

Day 1: nausea, lightheadedness, fatigue, slight cough, pain at night, breakthrough pain during the day

Day 2: nausea, vomiting, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, pain at night, breakthrough pain during the day

Day 3: nausea, vomiting, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, severe weight loss, constipation, slight cough, pain at night, breakthrough pain during the day

Day 4: nausea, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, constipation, slight cough, breakthrough pain during the day, mouth sores

Day 5: nausea, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, breakthrough pain during the day, mouth sores

Day 6: nausea, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, breakthrough pain during the day, mouth sores

Day 7: nausea, lightheadedness, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, breakthrough pain during the day, mouth sores

Day 8: nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, breakthrough pain during the day, mouth sores

Day 9: slight nausea, slight loss of appetite, slight fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, breakthrough pain during the day, frequent burping and belching

Day 10: slight fatigue, strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, frequent burping and belching

Day 11: strange-tasting saliva, slight cough, frequent burping and belching

Day 12: heavy productive cough, heavy sniffling, less frequent burping and belching

Day 13: heavy productive cough, heavy sniffling, less frequent burping and belching

Day 14: heavy productive cough, heavy sniffling

Day 15: heavy productive cough, heavy sniffling

Day 16: heavy productive cough, heavy sniffling, mouth sore

Day 17: heavy productive cough, heavy sniffling, mouth sore

Days 18-21: what next?!

The nausea and loss of appetite were the worst side effects. I was afraid I would never enjoy food again, and I have always been one of those people who finds food one of the biggest pleasures in life.

Weirdly enough, the burping and belching was a close third. I was burping in continuous streams almost all day. My speech was studded with tiny burps, punctuated with an occasional hearty belch. On the days when I was both nauseous and burping, I could smell and taste the food I ate earlier in the day, but in a more toxic form, in the same way that a bag full of garbage that has been sitting in the sun releases a ripened odor of the leftover food that is in it. The involuntary constriction of the throat muscles is the same constriction that happens when vomiting, so every time I burped, I had the feeling that I was vomiting little bursts of noxious gas. This was especially true while my saliva still tasted strange; I was convinced that both my breath and burps smelled bad. Once my saliva became less alien, I was more able to appreciate the ridiculousness of it all and pictured myself as a comic strip character with blank conversation bubbles appearing and disappearing above my head.

During the burping period, I must have had a constantly startled look on my face. Imagine having irregularly-spaced hiccups for four days straight. Besides that, the burping was so impolite and so unhideable that I didn't want to go out in public. I didn't want to explain to complete strangers or (even worse!) to acquaintances who had no idea of my current health issues: "Sorry, I have cancer and burping seems to be one of the lesser-known side effects of my chemotherapy treatment" Or not explain and feel their curious or disgusted stares on my back. Only uncontrollable farting would be more humiliating.

The coughing and sniffling are also somewhat interesting items on the list. They are not cancer symptoms or side effects of the chemo. They are symptoms of a cold that became worse due to one of the side effects of chemo.

I had a minor cold since a few weeks before the start of treatment. In fact, I think that I caught it around the same time that I discovered the lump in my chest, which means that I've had it now for 7 weeks. Although it was always present, I barely noticed it because I had other things to worry about. Of all the "children", it was the quietest and easiest to ignore. But now, it's active and clamoring for attention. The symptoms worsened considerably in the past few days. Especially in the mornings and evenings, I now have violent coughing fits that sometimes last for several minutes and bring tears to my eyes. I've already blown my nose through two boxes of tissues. The cold became strong because my immune system is weak.

In every chemo cycle, there is always a predictable dip in white blood cell count, which the Dutch name the "dip period". The literature I received from the hospital estimates that the dip period will occur roughly between the 10th and 15th days after each chemo infusion. Strangely enough, the Americans seem to believe that this period, which they don't seem to have an official name for, occurs between the 7th and 10th day. Is there a difference in the chemo dosages that could result in differences in cycle characteristics?

During the dip period, I am more vulnerable to infection. I am to avoid going to places where large groups of people congregate, taking public transportation, accepting fresh flowers, or doing anything that could result in a cut or a scrape. I am also to avoid eating: raw meat, raw fish, raw tofu, undercooked egg (e.g., no sunny-side ups), peanuts, certain cheeses, unpasteurized dairy products, homemade jams, any raw vegetables or fruit that are unwashed or difficult to properly wash (such as broccoli), fresh salads prepared in restaurants. It's hard not to become paranoid. I guess it's not so bad; otherwise, my doctors would force me to live in a plastic bubble.