Oh the Joys of Side Effects

Sarcasm...Really.

Side effects of chemotherapy are not so fun. Mom has been a trooper so far, but the side effects really started to hit her Saturday. She has said that her legs ache very badly, she's fatigued and she was/is having issues with constipation. We were told that the achy legs would be a side effect of the neulastra shot that she had on Friday. But, it is also a side effect of the chemotherapy drugs. Plus, Mom has fibromyalgia, so her body aches alot. Adding the chemotherapy drugs into her system isn't helping that pain, but is accenting it.

Mom has been out and about shopping, running errands in the past few days and today was having lunch with Sue, Dad, the kids and me. She's probably doing too much at the moment, but she is doing all of this in moderation. We shopped and ran errands for 90 minutes yesterday and then she went home and napped. I think that much activity is all that she can handle at the moment. Mom called Cindy, the head oncology nurse yesterday with her concerns about the constipation and the achy body. Cindy told us what to get for the constipation (which we already did) and gave her a prescription for the achy body. (which make Mom a bit loopy!) As for the fatigue; Mom will just need to rest when she is tired. Short naps are good.

Sunday evening meal at my parents was a total meltdown between Beckett having his own constipation issues and Mom's issues. That was not a fun time. Luckily, both Beckett and Mom corrected their issues since then. (so to speak)

It's been nearly a week since the first treatment. I'm keeping an eye on Mom for any other side effects that might pop up. This weekend is Brynn's 1st birthday party. We already have a plan to keep Mom away from anyone with a cold and have lots of hand sanitizers on hand! I know that Mom wouldn't want to miss the birthday party for the world.