Electric Blood

It's not that I was looking forward to feeling rotten...it's just that when you've spent almost four hours in a chair watching deadly chemicals flow into your body, you sort of expect SOME evidence. I'd spent Wednesday to Saturday feeling "normal", with no effects or side-effects of the fact that I'd had a chemotherapy treatment. But Saturday morning, things began to change. Annoyingly, I don't "smell" right anymore. This is a big deal for me because I have the nose of a dog! I woke with an uneasy feeling of almost headache and I was unrested after a late night of movie watching with Blake. As the day progressed, I recognized a sensation in my body, like tiny pings of electricity going off randomly in my blood. I wouldn't exactly call it pain--"discomfort" is a closer description. This sensation increased throughout the day as a few pings turned into hundreds. By bedtime I was pretty miserable. My skin was too sensitive to tolerate a back rub. My hair felt bruised too. Not knowing what action to take to relieve such a bizarre feeling, I tried ibuprophen and a hot bath. I was able to get a little bit of ragged sleep after that. But the awful sensation woke me often, accompanied by hot flashes that left me damp and chilled. I felt afraid of the power of chemotherapy for the first time last night. If "electric blood" has the potential to get stronger and last longer, I'm sure I'll be drawing lots of frowny faces on Bobette's calendar before this is over.