Well, this one took me down for a bit.  I had both Taxol and carboplatin on Monday and felt pretty well until yesterday.  I had acupuncture in the morning and hoped that would keep any nausea at bay.  By midday, though, I was feeling some nausea and had a developing headache.  I’m not able to take over-the-counter medication like Advil or Tylenol for pain because they can mask a fever and fevers are very dangerous for me (anything above 100 requires a trip to the emergency room).  I took the pain reliever they prescribed, Tramadol, but the headache seemed to get worse.  By evening, I was in intense pain and began vomiting.  I don’t know if the vomiting was the result of the chemo drugs, the headache pain or even possibly the pain reliever itself since that can be a side effect. Needless to say, I didn’t want to take any more and chance feeling worse (although that didn’t seem possible!).

This morning I was able to reach a nurse and was told I could either double the dose of Tramadol (no, thanks!) or take Tylenol every eight hours and monitor my temperature.  If I didn’t get some relief, I would need to go into the ER.  Fortunately, after taking the Tylenol, my headache lifted enough for me to sleep for a while.  When I got up, I was able to eat a little bit.  I hadn’t had much of anything since the morning before, so I was feeling pretty weak.

I can still feel a dull headache, but it’s currently tolerable.  I’m hoping it doesn’t return with the intensity of last night.  I’m looking forward to next week when I only get the Taxol.  That one seems easy peasy now.