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Cancer is chaos, but the real circus is the medication list. Pills for nausea. Pills for pain. Pills to counter the side effects of the other pills. And in between it all? Some of the weirdest, wildest body reactions you could ever imagine — and no one warned me.
💊 Let’s Talk About the Meds
There’s a moment — usually after your 4th or 5th prescription refill — where you realize you’re basically a walking Walgreens. Your pill organizer is thicker than a hardcover book, and you start rating meds like Yelp reviews.
Steroids? 2 stars. They work, but they make me feel like a bloated rage gremlin who hasn’t slept in 48 hours.
Zofran? 5 stars. The nausea MVP — but also the reason I haven’t pooped since last Tuesday.
Emetrol? My sweet, syrupy little savior. You are the girl.
And don’t even get me started on the ones that sound like wizard spells — “Filgrastim,” “Neulasta,” “Leucovorin.” Am I being treated or cursed?
🤪 The Weird Side Effects I Was Not Ready For
You think you’re prepared for hair loss and nausea. But no one tells you about:
- Random chin hairs growing back before your eyebrows. Why? Just… why.
- Steroid face (hello moon cheeks, my old frenemies).
- The Great Tastebud Betrayal. Everything tastes like metal or sadness.
- Joint pain that makes you feel 97 years old. My knees audibly creak.
- That one med that makes you cry because someone looked at you wrong. (You know the one.)
- Neuropathy. Tingling fingers, numb toes, dropping things like a raccoon with no coordination.
Also, can we talk about how some meds make you insanely hot for no reason? Not sexy hot. Just “wake-up-sweaty-and-confused” hot.
🧠 The Mental Whiplash Is Real
You can be totally fine one minute and crying because you forgot how to use the microwave the next. Between chemo brain, fatigue, and meds that play musical chairs with your neurotransmitters, it’s like your brain is always buffering.
Trying to explain this to people is exhausting. “No, I’m not being dramatic. I just forgot how to open the fridge and now I’m crying.”
🐾 Mojo: My Nonjudgmental Med Buddy
Through all of this, Mojo has never once looked at me sideways. I can be wrapped in 3 blankets, sipping Emetrol like it’s fine wine, crying at a dog food commercial, and he’ll just curl up next to me like, “Yeah, this seems right.”
He doesn’t care if I smell like antiseptic or if I’m too tired to play. He’s just here — always. Which is more than I can say for some of these meds, honestly.
🧾 Final Thoughts (Because I Forgot the First Ones)
Cancer treatment isn’t just one fight — it’s like battling 87 side quests with questionable rewards. Some days I feel like I’ve got it handled. Other days I stare at my pill organizer like it’s a Rubik’s cube of doom.
But I’m still here. Still sipping Emetrol. Still figuring it out. And if you’re here too — whether you’re the patient, the partner, or the friend Googling “wtf does dexamethasone do” — just know you’re not alone in the weird.
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