Nausea etc.

I woke up on the 12th, the morning after my chemo treatment and the nausea hit. I had placed a Zofran on my bedside table the night before just in case so took it and the nausea seemed to subside. I got ready and went to work. When I arrived some of my coworkers showed up at my office door with the most beautiful, thoughtful "cancer basket". I started crying because I was still very emotional after the Erbitux incident. Anyway, one of our clinic managers is a cancer survivor and she also used to be an RN at the Cancer Center. She said all the gifts in the basket were things she liked when she was going through treatment. All the items were yellow to give me some "sunshine". Another gift was a card with money for a massage or pedicure. I work with some of the nicest, most thoughtful people! There hasn't been a day since I was diagnosed that I haven't received a phone call or email from a coworker to see how I'm doing. Back to the nausea. After they all left my office I had to immediately rush to the bathroom and vomit. Then back to my office where I shut the door and realized this wasn't going to work. I called my boss and we decided I should go ahead a apply for short term disability. I spent the rest of the morning dry heaving over my trashcan with people occasionally knocking at the door to check on me. I called my parents at 2:30 and asked if they could come pick me up and take me to radiation which they did.

I was kind of worried about laying on my back, mouthpiece shoved in my mouth under a mask bolted to the table. What if I vomited? The technicians assured me they would be watching outside the room and if I stuck my hand up they would be right in. Okay, well I think I would already have aspirated by then. But I did okay, no vomiting, I just had to concentrate on the pain in my jaw and I forgot about the nausea! Afterward I got to see my radiation oncologist and he was confused by the nausea/vomiting so soon after chemo. He said it shouldn't have arrived until later. I told him I had hyperemesis gravidum during my pregnancies and he found that interesting. I do not do well with nausea. After pondering my situation he decided I should have daily IV fluids for a week with 2mg of Decadron. He also prescribed Ativan 1mg that I can take every 8 hours if needed. The combination is working so far. I've made it through 6/30 radiation treatments and although it really hurts when I have the big plastic mouthpiece in I think I've got the timing of the pain medication down so it's at it's peak action during that time. Also, it's easier to endure something when you know what to expect.