The Docetaxel legacy

It's two months post chemo and whilst I do feel *almost* normal, there are a few bits of Docetaxel fun that persist. Now I'm not really the poster child for chemo since I had every single side effect going - if I played 'Chemo Side Effect Bingo', I would have been shouting 'house' a lot. However, it's worth preparing yourself for the fact that it does take a while for all the side effects to work their way out of your system. For me the two that are sticking around are the dry mouth and water retention. I'm not sure if they're connected, but basically what happens to me is that I wake up repeatedly in the night with a mouth so dry that it feels like it's turned into a cardboard tube. I drink water, then wake up a while later to go to the loo! I drink all day long and still I have a pretty insatiable thirst, and some days my stomach and ankles swell up as if they're being slowly inflated. It's uncomfortable but not unbearable. I've spoken to the nurse at the hospital and she said that all this is completely normal and could take seven months or longer to fade. So, really it's best to take each day as it comes and not expect to bounce back immediately. Although with this much water retention, bouncing could probably be a good option for me!

Amanda