The drugs you are given whilst going through the SCT aren't ever fun, but they are necessary. It seems that they give you a drug to do something and they they give you a drug to counter the side effects of that drug and then they give you a drug to contract the side effects of that drug etc.
What I found was that yesterday they gave me the Rituxan which was the active drug as part of my chemo arrangement. But just in case they gave me a large dose of Solumedrol, a steroid, some tylenol (paracetamol) and benedryl.
What I find is the benedryl makes me really sleepy so just after they have administered that I normally sleep anywhere from two to four hours. After then the sleepy effect of the benedryl has worn off the effects of the steroids kick in and from that point on I can't sleep. Yesterday I was not tired and I tried to sleep at about 10.00pm but to no avail.
Luckily Amy had written me up a sleeping pill so at about midnight I took that and then about 1.00am I finally got to sleep and I woke up around 7.00am with a brief interruption around 5.00am when the nurse came in to check my vitals (and yes I did have a heart beat) and to my surprise I did sleep afterwards.
The thing I find is that hospitals are boring at the best of times. They are even more boring when you're stuck in a cycle of sleeplessness at 2 o'clock in the morning. If I can't get to sleep in about 15 minutes, I will busy myself with a DVD or book or something for an hour or two. If I still can't sleep I'll ask the nurse if I can have something and if I still can't sleep I'll continue to occupy myself with a DVD or something.
The night before my brain surgery I couldn't sleep, probably because of the anxiety after not one but two sleep pills I still couldn't sleep until about 4.00am! They then woke me at 6.00am to prep me for surgery. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, yo just can't sleep. Until next time, stay well:)
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Still Tired
Given that I certainly didn't feel 100% yesterday I was quite surprised at how much I managed to do. Unfortunately yesterday was the last day that my wife was here for about three weeks. As I have said so before, one of the things that worries me the most is that we are leaving the kids alone for the first time in forever, so my wife went home to look after them. Not to say the kids haven't enjoyed themselves. I'm sure that Grandma has spoilt them rotten.
But as my wife left to return to Australia, I have had three very welcome visitors. First an old friend from university who now lives in Washington DC managed to wrestle time away from her family to come and visit me in Chicago. It is quite convenient for her too as her sister lives here. Second, my parents have come to stay. They will be here whilst I have to take the neupogen shots and will stay right up until harvesting.
However, it has meant I had a busy day yesterday. After my wife and I had breakfast, I had a nap. After the nap, Abigale, the sister of my friend from DC drove us all to the airport so I could drop my wife off and also pick up my friend from DC. There was a little bit of a change over so we all had lunch together before we headed back to town, and you guessed it, I had another nap. Once my parents turned up we all went out to dinner and I was staggered that I actually managed to make it all the way to 10.30 before I finally hit the wall. I was in bed by 11.00pm and I managed a healthy 10 hours sleep which brings me to now.
This morning I actually feel great. Mind you, I haven't got out of bed yet. The only symptom I have really had post mobilisation has been tiredness though, but right now I do feel like I should get up and do something. Oh yeah, one other symptom I had was just some very mild nausea, so I took some Zofran and felt much better afterwards.
Well, I did say my energy levels felt much better today and hopefully they will stay that way. Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages of encouragement, it is great to know I have so many people in my corner. Until next time, stay well:)
But as my wife left to return to Australia, I have had three very welcome visitors. First an old friend from university who now lives in Washington DC managed to wrestle time away from her family to come and visit me in Chicago. It is quite convenient for her too as her sister lives here. Second, my parents have come to stay. They will be here whilst I have to take the neupogen shots and will stay right up until harvesting.
However, it has meant I had a busy day yesterday. After my wife and I had breakfast, I had a nap. After the nap, Abigale, the sister of my friend from DC drove us all to the airport so I could drop my wife off and also pick up my friend from DC. There was a little bit of a change over so we all had lunch together before we headed back to town, and you guessed it, I had another nap. Once my parents turned up we all went out to dinner and I was staggered that I actually managed to make it all the way to 10.30 before I finally hit the wall. I was in bed by 11.00pm and I managed a healthy 10 hours sleep which brings me to now.
This morning I actually feel great. Mind you, I haven't got out of bed yet. The only symptom I have really had post mobilisation has been tiredness though, but right now I do feel like I should get up and do something. Oh yeah, one other symptom I had was just some very mild nausea, so I took some Zofran and felt much better afterwards.
Well, I did say my energy levels felt much better today and hopefully they will stay that way. Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages of encouragement, it is great to know I have so many people in my corner. Until next time, stay well:)
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