The usual symptoms persist:

• Fatigue
• Gas
• Feeling flushed
• More fatigue
• The tight chest

That being said, this time we have some new symptoms to add to the pile of fun:

• Hemorrhoids – yep, that’s right. As if the the gas wasn’t enough, let us throw in painful shits. Never in my entire life would I have ever thought my poor mother would have to look up as many medications in Spanish as she has. Thank the deities the pharmacist likes her.
• Dead Mouth – My mouth constantly tastes like someone balled up an old lady’s sweater that smells of moth balls and stuck it into my mouth. It is like a small animal has died somewhere in my body and it’s decaying stench is what I taste. It’s like this Needless to say, gum and suck-on candy have become my best friends.
• Russian Roulette Taste Buds – The only time my mouth doesn’t taste like wet dog is when I am eating something. But wait, I don’t know which foods will taste great and which will taste like blood. I put a simple cracker in my mouth and the metal taste was like I just bit into someone’s artery. Same with fennel, some meats, and chocolate. All taste like blood. This one goes away and changes based on the day, which means I never quite know which foods I am going to like and dislike. Makes for interesting dinners. Mom has learned to cook a little bit of a lot of things just in case.
• Loss of appetite – And that is if I actually want or can eat at all. Some days I can barely eat anything. No matter how rumbly my tumbly is, I cannot seem to make it cooperate with my brain to say that I am hungry. Or I will eat a few bites and feel uncomfortably full. So much for clearing my plate.
• Leg and feet cramps – I don’t know if it is all the inactivity or something related to the medication, but I get horrible leg and feet cramps. Sometimes they just tingle, as if they are asleep, and sometimes it is like spears are being thrown into my legs.
• And the most fun…Insomnia – Oh no, the fatigue has not diminished. I am still exhausted and dizzy most of my waking hours because my cells are so low. But now my lovely insomnia from my early twenties has come back in full. My mind races like a bullet about nothing. It takes hours for me to fall asleep. I toss and turn and fart and get up to pee and toss and turn some more. On top of a shaved head, I now have bags the size of IKEA under my eyeballs.

Ah, the joys of poison.

That being said, I did bounce back a little bit quicker this time around than the last time. I was tired Monday morning but not incapacitated. I was able to get through the day on a consistent 70% energy. And by Tuesday, I was fine. None of the actually symptoms changed much, which makes me think that I am in for three more weeks at least of dead mouth and farting. You really did a number this time, Phil, when you saw that cancer shadow.