Is It, or Isn't It?

Reminds me a little of the old Clairol hair color campaign.

That was a stretch.

Sometimes I wonder if I 'stretch' to find a chemo side effect or if they just find me. Because that is the question you ask: "Is it or isn't it?"
A question that's just another part of a life turned upside down.

This past week I've had a few experiences that make me wonder:
"Is it or isn't it?"

After the Chemo Class in July, and as an 'extra fiber' treat (and 'salty' helps odd tastes) I bought a box at Sams Club with three varieties of Planters peanuts, each packaged in an individual tube. A few tubes had been eaten early on but none since then. This week it was decided to chomp on another one, so I pried open a tube of the Salted Peanuts. Yum. That night the inside of my right cheek was very tender but by the next day wasn't so bad. The following day I decided to munch on the Honey Roasted and cut open a tube of them. Yum again. That night? OUCH. The inside of my mouth on the left side was almost raw. The next morning it wasn't much better and I started wondering, "Is it or isn't it?" a side effect of the chemo. Mouth sores are one of the things they warn us about. Then you ask yourself what seem like silly questions, "Have peanuts caused me problems before (chemo)?" and if I don't know the answer to that does it mean they haven't caused problems? Then you start doubting. In the meantime your tongue keeps wandering over the the cheek to see if the irritation is better or worse. Ow. It took several days for the soreness to go away but "Is it or isn't it?" just a canker sore or mouth sores associated with chemo? was the question rolling though my mind. Fortunately it didn't progress beyond a bad canker, but I'm off peanuts for a while. Maybe a long while.

One thing I didn't experience this round of chemo (and didn't miss) was the metallic taste and the 'warm ice water' thing. How nice to drink cold ice water!

However.

When I'm out and about there's a bad habit I've gotten into of finding a McDonald's drive-thru and spending a $1 to overpay for a large Diet Coke. Problem is I'm not a big fan of Diet Coke (reminds me of brown water) but McD's must have a special recipe of the stuff because it seems quite flavorful. Of no-cal Coke products I really prefer Coke Zero but have found that if a drive-thru carries Coke Zero it isn't always consistent (even McD's), at least to me and therefore avoid it. So, I'm out running errands the week following chemo and decide to quench my thirst. At the nearest McD's I pull in and get a tall cold one -Diet Coke, of course- and continue on my merry way. ICK. First swallow was awful. Second and third swallows were just as bad. I wasn't thirsty enough to finish it. Now occasionally you can run across a bad batch or badly mixed or poorly maintained soda fountain, but not often. After another errand or two I was getting a hankering for that caffeine fix and pulled into a different McD's to again overpay for a large Diet Coke at their current bargain price of $1. ICK--again! Can you really have two different places with the same bad Diet Coke? Possibly, but unlikely. And then it hit me, "Is it or isn't it?" related to the chemo. I may never know. Any other day I'd have gone into the McD's and asked if they'd had complaints and maybe asked for a refund, but this day I decided the odds were too great for it to be anything other than me and some taste related chemo side effects. It was McDonald's lucky day.

Maybe I should dye my hair.
Then you can ask "Does she or doesn't she?"  ;-)


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