Well, I had my Rituxan maintenance treatment last Thursday, May 23. I am glad that the side effects seem to be finished for the most part. Thursday, I was completely out of it due to the benadryl that I have to take to counteract any allergic reactions. It wipes me out. Hubby can tell when it takes effect as my eyes go glazed and no one seems to be home mentally.
Friday morning arrived and the bowels were affected by the Rituxan. I stayed close to home and rested as we were going to very good friends for dinner. The pounding headache that comes with Rituxan inserted itself into my brain. I was taking extra strength tylenol at regular intervals to keep it bearable. My day was spent reading light novels and surfing the internet. When the side effects hit, all I can do is ride the wave until it passes. I had a lovely time with our friends on Friday night but tired easily and it was an early night.
Saturday, two days after the treatment, I was hit with nausea and lack of appetite. The bowels were a little better which was a relief (pardon the pun). Again, Saturday was spent doing "nothing" although I did work on my daughter's afghan between reading and texting with my brother in another city. He doesn't have access to much internet and so he was not aware of the wonderful news I had received at my check up on Wednesday. The headaches continued throughout Saturday and it was an early night again. I find that getting enough sleep helps lessen the side effects. I was hoping on Saturday night that I could make it to church on Sunday morning as I wanted to sing in the choir. We have an interim organist/choir director who I have really enjoyed working with and Sunday was the last day the choir would be singing until September. So off to bed I went with hopes for the next morning.
Unfortunately, Saturday night I didn't sleep well as my body was restless. Sunday morning came and my nausea, headaches and bowels were still an issue. I wasn't very hungry and it was due to the nausea. I sent off an early morning email to the organist to let her know that my body was not cooperating with my mental wishes. I rested on the couch and read my current novel as well as worked on the afghan again. By late morning, Hubby wanted to get me out of the house for a drive. I agreed.
I took more extra-strength tylenol and got cleaned up. May be that would help me feel better. It really didn't but I did need a change of scenery. Hubby suggested going downtown to watch a baseball game. Unfortunately, my headache was pounding and the thought of sitting amongst a cheering or yelling crowd made me cringe. I love watching baseball so you know how awful I was feeling to say "No, I don't want to do that." Hubby was very good and we went for a drive along Lake Ontario's shoreline. The water level was high. I enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my body in the car as well as the sparkling water that looked like little diamonds as the sun glistened off the blue water. What a lovely drive it was. I noticed that not many fields have been planted yet due to the wet ground. Some fields were planted but you could see where the tractors had sunk and made deep ruts in the field. I enjoyed the drive but tired quickly and was ready to return home. Hubby made a lovely meal but I wasn't hungry although I did eat a little bit. By the end of the day, I was ready for all the side effects to be finished. I was tired of riding this roller coaster and being in the deep valley. As I went to bed on Sunday night, I hoped that Monday would be better.
I slept much better and.....Hubby and I both slept in. The alarm had been shut off for the weekend and we forgot to reset it. Hubby had just enough time for breakfast and dash out the door to work. I continued to be exhausted throughout the day but at least the headache, bowels and nausea had calmed down considerably. I was just wiped. Monday was a sunny and warm day so I took advantage of it and did a couple loads of laundry and hung them on the line to dry outside. I love the smell of wind blown clean laundry. That was enough for me. I dressed in my sun protective pants and shirt. I put on my hat and I sat out on the patio with my book. I listened to the birds singing away, the bumble bees buzzing lazily around the flowers and read my book. It was a lovely day even though I was very tired. I took advantage of feeling a little better and tried a new recipe for dinner. It was Trinidad Chicken Pelau. I had cut it out of our local newspaper back in 2014 (that's the date on the paper). I also made Jamaican Carrots which I've made before. I got that recipe from a Carribean Night which Hubby and I attended several years ago. It was an evening of Carribean food, music and fellowship in an effort to teach and integrate the two cultures in our city. It was a very memorable evening and the recipes for the food were available for those who wanted them. I like trying new things and different ethnic foods so, of course, I picked up the recipes. I digress from my dinner though. The meal I made on Monday night was really, really good. It's not often that I love my own food. Food always tastes better when someone else makes it. This time, I loved the meal! I will definitely be making it again. But....preparing and making the meal exhausted me even more. So it was an early night again.
Yesterday, Tuesday, May 28, I awoke feeling normal!!!! Praise be!! The side effects seem to have abated. I'm moving onwards and upwards from the treatment now. It was a rainy, damp day here so I decided to tackle cleaning out a small crawlspace (we have another bigger crawlspace) in the house. I also put polishing some old furniture and vacuuming on my to-do list. I started with the crawlspace because there's an upcoming reunion that Hubby wants to go to and he would like to find his collection of pics and stuff from that time period. While going through the crawlspace, I decided to do a major purge of "stuff". It took me most of the day to finish this job. At the end of it, I was dirty and dusty but there were 3 bags of things to donate to the second hand store. Hubby and my children received multiple texts with pictures of stuff as I requested a yes or no to keeping. It was late afternoon when I finished this big job. Unfortunately, I didn't find Hubby's mementos. They must be in the bigger crawlspace. He keeps that one organized so it will be up to him to find them now. I rested for about an hour and then I tackled the old furniture. One is an old shipping trunk that belonged to my grandmother but maybe even came to her from her parents. I've used it for storage of kids' things over the years and when I started reclaiming their bedrooms in January, I started to use it for storing blankets and afghans for winter use. It looks good in Son's "new" room so I decided to use the furniture polish from Sticky Forks Apiary to bring the trunk back to life. As I cleaned and polished it, I was very pleased with what I saw. Hubby arrived home from work (time had passed quickly!) and saw the partially polished trunk. He was amazed at how well it looked. I stopped and reheated the leftovers from Monday for dinner. After dinner, Hubby continued to paint my laundry room in the basement while I continued to polish the trunk. I'm really pleased with how it looks but it has been neglected for so long that I'm going to let it soak in and then do it again next week. After I was done the trunk, I looked at the battered bookshelf that has held my books and then Son's books over the years. I bought this bookshelf 30 years ago at an auction and it was battered then. I cleaned the empty bookshelf and then went at it with the furniture polish. When I finished, the bookshelf gleamed and shone like new! All the scratches were magically gone! Oh but how my hands and wrists ached! Hubby was still painting and so I dug out the vacuum and finished my to-do list. My energy was sapped but I felt so satisfied. It was a full filling day but I was tired. I finished my day with spending time on the couch with Hubby. But then the phone rang just as I was to head to bed. I had a short visit with my mom and then had to politely end the call. I was yawning so much I could hardly carry on a conversation and my mind was turning to mush. Off to bed I went.
Today is supposed to be a sunny and warm day. Two loads of laundry have been done and will be hanging on the line after I finish this post. I'm really tired again today and I believe it is because I did too much yesterday. But I still want to play in my gardens today too. Oh well....onwards and upwards! Life is for living. I can always sleep later.
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