Journal: News & Comment

Nap tub

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Almost every medication I've been taking for the past week—the bevacizumab antibody agent I received by IV, Tylenol with codeine, and especially iron pills for anaemia—has a risk of conspiation. Plus reducing the fibre in my diet on doctors' orders (how often does that happen?) doesn't help.

So last night I hardly slept at all from the discomfort, and not being sure what was safe for me to do—even at this early stage in my chemo treatments, there are things I should avoid, and I had to wait until today before I could speak to the clinical trial nurse and find out—all I could resort to was drinking lots of water, making good use of the Magic Bag, and taking hot baths both right before bed and first thing this morning, even before 7 a.m. had arrived.

Those baths are still the best thing. As soon as I dip in, nearly any trace of pain goes away. But this morning that meant as soon as I dipped in, I came ridiculously close to falling asleep, comfortable for the first time in hours. Had anyone else been awake, I would have looked ridiculous sitting there cross-legged in a barely-filled tub, tap running full, with my eyes closed and my head lolling to one side.

If I could replace my bed with a nice bathtub, I probably would right now, even if it made my skin stupidly wrinkly. Pity that next week, once the radiation and the rest of the chemo starts, I'll have to avoid such temperature extremes. I'll enjoy them while I can. And I should get a bath pillow.

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