One of the common side effects of chemotherapy is a sore mouth. Today has been the worst for my mouth. The gargles are okay but not quite enough to eat. Supposedly this should get better soon. It was constant pain so I had to call for pain medication. I got codeine.
Today my hemoglobin count is low so I am getting a red blood cell transfusion today. Red blood cells make me feel a lot better. Go vampire! This morning before the transfusion, I thought I would try and take a shower since I was unhooked from the IV pole. I was a little tired standing up but not short of breath. Anyhow I got into the hot shower. Bam! Almost immediately I started to faint. I grabbed the rails and lowered the seat in the shower and sat down. I just could not recover any energy. So I shut the shower off, threw a towel in my lap and pulled the nurse call cord. Embarrassingly I had to be wheel-chaired back to bed 🙁 Moral of the story? Don’t take a hot shower when your hemoglobin count is low!
So back in bed, I was embarrassed, mouth hurting and ready for transfusion. Once the transfusion started I went to sleep. A good, deep sleep too. When I a woke I saw I had a visitor. This vistor was a big surpirse. My friend David from San Francisco! Based on the day I had been having, from his perspective he probably wishes his timing was different but from my perspective his visit really lifted my spirits and could not have been timed better.