A wonderful side bonus (NOT!) of chemotherapy is hot flashes. I had always been kind of curious what these were and now I am here to tell you at age 40 what they feel like.
There seems to be a precursor that gives you a warning that it is coming about 2 seconds before it starts. It is almost like you can't catch your breath and your heart starts to beat a bit faster. Then comes the "wave". Heat like you can't imagine. All you want to do is take all of your clothes off and have someone hose you off with the garden hose. If you are lucky you will have something to fan yourself with. If you are not, you are likely to grab the newspaper from the stranger next to you so you can cool off. This phase can last anywhere between 2 and 4 minutes. Then comes the cooling, which you would think would be a relief but instead you start to shiver and try to bundle up. Eventually you body evens out again until it starts all over..... randomly.
I did find a strange connection. My hot flashes are much stronger and more frequent right after chemo. The last round I was alone watching TV waiting for John to come home. I was doing quite well until he called and the moment I heard his voice I had a major hot flash. We hung up and he called me again about 45 minutes later, and once again - hot flash. When he walked in the door about an hour later -you guessed it - hot flash. I guess my husband just makes me hot :)
4 comments:
Well, I guess it's better that John gives you hot flashes than if it was Ben or something. :-)
hey, get a room! :)
that is SO cute! xx
awesome!!!!
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