Article

Blame It On Chemo

Author(s):

One cancer survivor looks at how chemotherapy might have impacted her life in unexpected ways.

Chemotherapy took a lot out of me. Aside from losing all my hair, much of which never came back, it took anything in my stomach no matter what I ate. The antiemetics were not yet invented, so there was no way to stop the vomiting.

Needless to say, I stay away from anything that will make me nauseous or vomit. When I go out with friends, I explain that drinking too much is something chemotherapy has eliminated on the off chance it will make me sick to my stomach.

As a matter of fact, it occurred to me that there were probably other positives from the chemotherapy. So, I started enumerating.

First, it gives me an excuse for everything and anything I don’t want to do. For example, It works for memory loss and irritability, like . . .

“I used to have a longer fuse before chemo,” I’ll say to someone I have just been short with.

It’s a great excuse for all kinds of things.

Chemo makes me grateful. . .

For the common cold

For dogs to walk

For my child to play with

For being too busy

For the sun and moon

Before Chemo I...

Cleaned my house more often

Cooked more often

Didn’t shop as much

Didn’t read as much

Didn’t buy as many neat CDS to play while I read

Didn't play with my child as much

You know now that I look at it, chemo has greatly improved my life.

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