Life of a Chemo Patient

This blog is meant to give some insight in how it feels to be a chemo patient. I will try to be as objective as possible, or at least to avoid to seem to be moaning. But the fact remains that sometimes things are very frustrating. Yesterday I went to visit an old friend in town, who told me she often wonders where I find the energy to cope and continue doing things. Well, the answer is that it amazes me as well.

It already starts when waking up. Everything from the waist down burns and glows, sometimes accompanied by serious cramp attacks. Getting out of bed is very confrontational, for standing on my feet is a very hurting experience and walking is a serious problem during the first couple of minutes.

When having my morning coffee I do my every morning thing, updating my professional website, which takes about 1.5 hours. After that I check my mails and by then my energy has already almost completely gone. A couple of times a week I have to do some shopping at the supermarket at 5 minutes distance. After that, it’s over for at least a couple of hours.

But by far the most frustrating is my lack of concentration. One of my strongest points has always been the fact that my brain was able to multiprocessing. This morning I was updating my professional website, whilst in the back of my mind the text for this entry was taking shape as well as the concept for an entry in my professional blog. System crash. My head went completely offline. After a break of a couple of hours I was able to write this and hopefully later today, after my siesta, I will be able to do the other blog entry.

Usually, the afternoon will be spent on doing some workout on my home trainer and, if some energy is left, to answer some mails. Then cooking is due and a second update round for my professional website. All this used to be a minor part of my day. Now it has become a challenge.