Hullo, everyone. This is the first day since my first chemo that I feel pretty normal. It took me eighteen days since the drugs were introduced to me to feel normal again. I am currently taking at least eight pills four times a day. The feeling is gross, and the side effects are insane.

The most debilitating side effect of my chemo is the nausea. The first few days after chemo, I felt like vomiting buckets every single time, but whenever I tried to throw up, nothing would out. I felt dizzy 24/7, like I was spinning non-stop for hours. The worst nausea always came up in the morning, just after waking up. There would be a metallic taste at the back of my throat even.

My diet was significantly reduced to a fourth of what I would usually eat. I would eat a tablespoon of rice, a few slurps of soup, and barely a slice of meat. After that, I would hope to the high heavens that I would not feel hungry for as long as I could, only because eating is very difficult when one feels like throwing up.

Despite my religious visits to my derma, my skin has gotten unforgivably dry. I would also grow acne where acne last appeared when I was in Grade 6. I am still simultaneously pale and blue-skinned (like a corpse) because of the drugs.

I had one last surgery before my first chemo, and the incision was supposed to heal five days after surgery. To this day, my wound is still a little fresh, thanks to the chemo drugs.

Nearly all my hair has fallen off and stopped growing. While this is good news for most women and some men, I challenge these same people to walk around without nose hairs as well. Everything smells more intense, I assure you.

I once went out, and was wearing the prescribed mask and was sprayed with alcohol every fifteen minutes. By the time I got home, I still started registering a fever at 38 degrees (a very serious case for people in chemo). Digression: A person in chemo who develops a fever can very easily have sepsis (infected blood), and this can be fatal. Lesson: No matter how safe I am, my immune system will not be able to protect me from viruses and bacteria out there.

Whenever I sneeze, I scare the sweet Jesus out of Jair because simple colds can easily develop into pneumonia for me. I have had clogged nose twice in the last 18 days, which we preempted from becoming pneumonia by a host of pills and drugs.

I have hyperacidity due to all the pills I am taking. Eight pills (at least) for four times each day; that is 32 pills in a day. I still have not counted the ointments, syrups, lozenges, and dietary supplements I am using. These are just for everyday care. If I develop any illness whatsoever, the number of pills increases. If I throw up now, you will not see food; the output will just be pills.