~ I was tired, I had no appetite, I did nothing only resting.~
Arriving at Home
13 November 2020, when I got home from Dr Ma’s clinic, it was already evening. Family was waiting at home, so sweet and compassionate of them. As I became rather tired, I did not join them for dinner but had a quick shower and went straight to bed.
By the time Mum came to wake me up to ask if I wanted to eat something, it was already mid-night. I got up to have some soup Mum made and kept warm for me. I was rather awake so decided to stay up and watched an old movie. By 3 am, I was sleepy again so went back to bed.
The First Day After Chemotherapy
The next morning, I woke up feeling quite fine. After breakfast, I started the oral medication. I had to swallow 3500mg of Xeloda a day, which is 4 capsules in the morning and 3 in the evening. I had to do it for two weeks, so it was a total consumption of 98 pills. I took them as instructed. I did not feel any effect of this drug, yet, during this first cycle. Dr. Ma also gave me standby medicine for nausea and diarrhea. Fortunately, I did not have those side effects during this time so no need to take any of them.
The first unpleasant feeling came when I was having lunch. I had Chinese dumplings in soup. After having about 4 pieces of dumplings, I felt very full, my stomach was so stuffed that I could not eat any more. I could normally eat 8 to 10 pieces of those dumplings. The entire afternoon, my stomach was stuck.
Throughout the day I stayed home resting not doing anything in particular. I was a bit tired in the afternoon so had a nap. I never had the habit of taking afternoon nap but I did so everyday for the rest of the week.
Dinner was not easy either. I ate very little again. I literally lost my appetite as my stomach was so stuffed. I usually ate quite a lot. I was a big girl at 71kg at the start of chemotherapy. At the end of the first cycle I lost 2kg weighing 69kg.
The entire week my appetite was not good. I really ate very little, I was not capable of putting much in the mouth. I napped every day usually in late morning and after lunch. The tiredness was obvious but still manageable with naps.
After The First Week
My conditions started to improve in the second week. I could eat a bit more still not up to my normal level of intake but better. I napped less as well. I continued to stay home resting. I did not feel like going outdoor at all.
By the end of the second week, I finished all the oral medicine. The third week was my resting week free of medication. I was also feeling a better energy. I went down to the podium garden for a short walk a couple of times during the week. My appetite has improved further still eating a bit less than normal. My afternoon nap was shorter and in some days I did not need to nap.
That was one complete cycle of chemotherapy. Though I have not anticipated in advance what could have happened, somehow, in terms of discomfort and side effects, I felt it was manageable. I did not feel pain, or physical sufferings, except for the appetite, the tiredness and slight weight loss.
Thanks to My Angels
Before I commenced the chemotherapy, I communicated with my staff for all the necessary arrangements at work during my absence. I have been so grateful to have all these wonderful girls who are so capable to work independently. Without them, I would not have been able to take care of the tumor and to have all my focus on treatments. They are amazing and incredible. I exchanged emails with them from home when I had the energy to do so. I knew everything was under control and was relieved.
In between, I had an appointment with Cecilia for TCM and acupuncture. Cecilia is a good friend and has been my TCM doctor for 20 years. She also has also good knowledge in western medicine and a super big heart. Cecilia checked my pulse and my tongue. She told me the chemotherapy treatment and the medication had started to affect my liver, kidney and spleen. She gave me an acupuncture session to support these organs while they were working hard to detox.
After Cecilia, I had Jan for a session of lymphatic drainage. Both Cecilia and Jan are at Vitality Center (Home – Vitality Center). I am grateful to Jan’s magic hands to help drain my body. I will talk about it more later as it is very important and I still see Jan on a regular basis for lymphatic drainage.
I was then going back to see Dr. Ma to start another cycle of the same treatment and same process on 4 December 2020.
