h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

sneaky oncologists that is.. In terms of the side affects they don't mention.... when you have to 'sign away' to allow the chemo to occur....

Although..... Perhaps my more extensive of late reading on ... slightly more ... well hidden, side-affects, explains a few things Oh.... well.... Guess I'd have signed anyhow, had I know.... I mean... I wasn't really with it when I did sign anyhow, I'd not recovered much from the neurological stuff, post brain hemorridge

In otter news, my temp seems to finally be below the 'danger' point of 38, and is circling about 37.8 at the moment

the antibiotics, clorofloxacin, are still as horrible as the earlier times I've had them, only this time I've got them for 7, not 5 days...

turns out having an infection with no immune system, or not much of one, isn't too fun.... - and my sense of smell has now decided to vanish.... tmpory I guess, either from the viral infection/immune system itself, or possibly the antibiotics... - green tea don't taste right

Ugh, loss of smell is bad, but loss of taste is worse. Let's hope this is just a temporary inconvenience

I'm pretty sure the loss of smell is tempory; just having an infection thing; like having a cold.... - the loss of taste, is just down to the loss in smell; seems, tea in particular must be 99% 'taste' from 'scent'

Loss of .... other things may be more perminant. If I'm..... not overly in pain, discomfort, tired, or.... hungry, or.... etc., etc., I can just laugh about it, and shrug and say 'oh well', then... if I can't ..... X... Y ,.... or Z.... ever again I'll just.... do something differnt.... however, when I'm a little.... lower in other ways to start, with, the idea of ... various things just never being the same, forever, becomes a little frightening.... I guess.... but... pah... what the heck.... maybe I'll just have to go to sea, and find out, for once and all... if, indeed, worse things do truely happen at sea

Its... all... just a bit much sometimes.... like when the hospital tried to kill me, by scripting penacilum...; its written all over my notes I can't have it!; they'd given us the box of tablets.... we were about to leave; through my distressed, useless, chemo-brain/brain-fog, I suddenly got a thought.... a long forgotten memory... and the name of the antibiotic came to my mind...; thank BoB I've a biomed background; I suddenly recalled it was a penacilum related antibiotic.... - I'd kinda like not to have anaphalatic shock, too, on top of everything else!; but... trying to keep myself that* much on the ball, whilst my brains melting away from the chemo drugs.... is... taxing to put it mildly!

If... I dunno... say for example.... your a bit worried... and ment to be, if your temp goes above 38 Degrees C.... then.... as a rule of thumb.... don't measure your temp, just after having spent like an hour or so, laying under a really warm duvet, snuggled up with tedy bears, and witha warm/hot laptop running, on top of the whole thing.... becuase..... you know.... It might randomly give a reading of 40 degrees which....... four minutes later is already back down to 38.3

Last time I was in hospital the guy I shared room with was given some lemonade which sent his blood sugar through the roof. He had asked for sugar free since he is a diabetic, but you know accidents will happen

I guess so... but... there's ment to be so much 'in place' for things, as simple as allergys really.... - and, really, the main thing is I think; I'm just so used to being 100% on the ball myself, about such things; its more my damn fault, becasue my brain is not working, for not having picked up earlier, they'd scripted me something they shoudln't Just hope I can get brain function back, once the chemo is done.... turns out... I was kinda.... attached to my own cognition as well as my own physical body.... having spent a few months without either is.... a little surreal.... and... odd... and not in the kdin of odd I'm used too sort of odd.... because, the me taht was used to odd, isn't the me that this odd is appening too

I might have some kind of exterstential crisis... but... really... I don't think I've got the energy for one right now

back to mainlinging tea, for the rest of the day... its about all Iv'e got energy to do

oh. dear.

As an example of how otterly useless my brain now is.;

Been running high temp. almost still at re-hospitalising myself level, despite the antibiotics I'm on.

Of course.

if.

say. for example. I was, to , well, I dunno, say, like use the thermometer correctly, and take a correct, accurate measurement. then. then I'd be not running a temp. huzzah - I've a first class Hons degree in biomedical sciences, and a masters degree in Immunology and genetics... and thanks to chemo brain/drugs, I can't use a thermometer Oh... welll... - a few weeks back I was struggling to use a kettle correctly....

Think I'll have another cup of tea, then go try nap doubt I'll sleep... but... I was told to go nap and, afterall I am so tired

Would the incorrect use of the kettle, and the incorrect use of the thermometer leading to unnaturally high readings, be at all connected?

I'm glad it was a false alarm. What kind of thermometer is it?

connected... I guess kinda.... connected by my non-functioning brain I guess

its a talking thermometer.... which took ages to hunt down, as apparetnly they'd never heard of such a thing at the GP surgery, pharamacy, or hospital
I'm still not convinced its accurate enough... its ment to be, as its digital afterall

The kettle thing... still to an extent; my coordination is just knackered by the chemo. coordination in all senses... just screwed really... and I'm very clutz now too, thanks to the chemo; partly the lack of coordination thing, partially just foggy brain, partially the lack of sensations still to an extent, in my fingers, etc

mind... the weirdest one with the kettle, I sill can't figure out... I was pouring it from kettle into tea cup, one moment,; next moment, I'd just tipped the kettles contents over myself.
very odd. luckily only from the waist down. and. yes. 'there' included strange though... didn't get any burns from it could, of, I guess, maybe even been some weird blackout/seizure/petit-mal thing, but, don't think that occured to me, at the time... that was... weeks ago mind... if not longer... I've gotten better, honest!

mind, still managed to fail to coordinate tipping hot water into the pan, correctly tonight, whilst trying to boil pasta I'm so not used to being this/that useless at everyday stuff and... its ... bluddy annoying

A talking thermometer? I had scales like that once, but only used them once, because they yelled "OUCH! Only one person at the time, please!!! "

I've talking kitchen scales, and bathroom/personal scales too..... The fomer I've not used in ages, as I've not made bread, in ages.... the latter I've not used in ages..... becuase I know I'm getting fat from teh damn steroids I so need to diet right now but.... everyone.... and I mean everyone..... just gives me the most strangest of looks wlhen I say this, in all sinserity.... and then they sort of in desperation kinda groan and say ' 'no' and 'your on chemo....' and 'your not well'.... and 'not at the moment you don't.... I'm so crap at being ill

Bleh.

I don't know which 90-year-old's joints, bones and muscles I've taken (hopefully t tempory ) loan of..... but I really wish he/she would take them back, and let me have my own muscles, joints and tendons back.... you know... the ones that actually like work and .... don't hurt like this so.... stiff and ouchy - my own fault, I actually like made teh mistake of getting a full nights sleep... well, by full nights sleep I mean I slept three hours, posibly slightly more... most sleep in a single go I think I've had in over a fortnight. and... I don't think it was kinda sufficient actually

pah... and now my stupid thermometer is being stupid, and pretending its just not working at all..... Think I'm gona buy a new set of batterys for it, just in case its soemthing as stupidly simple as taht well... gotta be worth a try

My brother had cancer and was told not to lose any weight whatsoever! Easy for the to say as brother had cancer in neck and tonsils, was severely burned by radiation and lost all kinds of taste and appetite - so he lost 21 kilos (3.3 stones) anyway.

Since I am his next of kin and probably 100 percent compatible plus weigh 30 kilos too much I offered him a fat transfusion, of course

I have a friend who went through a similar cancer, in the throat. He found a way to keep eating steak. He would slather the bites in mayo.

His taste buds were so far off it just acted as lubricant.

Its one of the two things I was convinced of, before starting chemo!;

What happens to people on chemo?:

They get thin. often dangerously thin.
They lose all their hair.

well, I've still got hair; its currently got 5, 1 yard/meter long ribbons in it- the 6th ribbon to be added thursday, for my sixth chemo session! - true, not quite as much hair as I once had... but, its still basically there, just in reduced volume

lose weight? - I actually made a sucessful attempt to gain a bit, before starting chemo, for fear of this,; I'd lost a lot of weightm over the last few years (on purpose), and was the lowest weight I'd been, since, like childhood (11 stone 12 Lb), and, I put on several Lb, just to give myself a little buffer, for when the inevitable* weight loss, from chemo started.

Since starting chemo; I'v egained at least 9 LB! basically as a consequence of the steroids <snork< - well, that, and of having vast meals immediately befor eI go into chemo and... well. basically eating so much all the time!

so. all the side affects I have had... really weren't ones I knew of, was made aware of, or certainly weren't specially highlighted as potential side affects; I've even missed out on nausea...

I'm not like other people.- as if further evidence was required.

Just finished my (coupla' coffee), time for my tall ice tea with lemon and gingko biloba.

Time for a cuppa here too I thik..... green tea... then I think I'll shower... maybe wake and warm me up a bit, before I ... decide what's for my dinner salad I think....

sounds like a good idea at this hour

I have a couple cups coffee now, in the morning, first thing; from th enew very cool cafeitere all shiney metal I bought, which makes two cups (rather than 5 large mugs) of coffee then I'm on Jasmine, or green tea all day just drinking so much tea right now