Rest Weekend

Constipation is a common side effect of chemotherapy. Even though I was experiencing a lot of pain, I had been reluctant to use any medication stronger than Panadol and Nurefin to avoid the discomfort.

I woke on Saturday morning after a terrible night's sleep. I was up and down frequently during the night, trying anything to relieve the pain. In the morning, I relented and took some Panadein instead, and just accepted that I was going to have to do something in addition once I stopped going to the toilet. Just another thing to not look forward to.

If this didn't work, then I had some Panadien Forte that I could try.

Along with the Difflam and Lignocaine mouth wash, I might get some relief with the stronger painkiller. The good news is it did work, but the effects did not last long, which meant I either had to take more inside the time limit for regular dosage, or put up with a bit of pain for a short time before taking more. I chose the latter. For two reasons, I needed to test how long the pain subsided for, and also because I was hoping it wouldn't ultimately affect my regular toilet habits. Wishful thinking.

At least it gave me a little relief, so I got to take my son to his basketball game.

I ate various smoothies all weekend, apart from a few bowls of cereal with plenty of milk.

The Panadien was helping me to feel normal again, but only for a very short space of time.

Sunday, we had lunch at Vicki's mum and dad's, and I was able to eat a bit of roast pork with plenty of apple sauce and gravy. I also ate some salad with Italian dressing.

That night, I was also able to eat home-made meatloaf, peas and mash. It still hurt to swallow, but nowhere near as badly. The Panadien was working.

After dinner, I wrapped a couple of pieces of ice in a flanel and held it against my lip. This soothed my lip considerably and the swelling went down. The problem was once I stoppped using the ice, my lip swelled again.

I promised myself that I would speak to a Doctor tomorrow to see what I should be doing.

I wend to bed around midnight after watching a movie on TV and completing my normal mouth, face and neck hygiene routine. Hopefully I'll be able to manage my situation better.