New Side Effect

Since the last update, it seems that I have developed a new side effect of the chemotherapy.  I refer to it as chemo-induced diabetes.  I have been urinating and drinking like crazy since the infusion on Sept 19th.  When they took the bloodwork the blood glucose was off the chart -- in dangerous range.  They asked us to come to Acute Care at the Huntsman Cancer Center.  Worked all afternoon on getting the readings down and told to come back again before infusion scheduled for the 26th.  It did come down quite a bit, but still very high and needs to come down more if we can.  

Turns out that one of the anti-nausea meds they give me is a steroid and causes high blood sugar.  Without it I will most likely start vomiting and cause all kinds of electrolyte imbalances that will really be hard to get back under control.  So we continue with the steroid and now take some pills to control blood sugar. Based on the still high readings, we will start insulin injections based upon a sliding scale.  We don't want long term problems in kidneys and eye-sight.  I am really tired from all this and don't want to do much of anything.

We still did the chemo infusion on the 26th.  It went as usual, so I won't go into detail about it again.  We met a very nice dietician who explained how to change eating habits when you have diabetes.  We've spent the weekend trying to follow the plans and it will be a pretty big lifestyle change.  The key seems to be portion control -- especially for carbohydrates.

My hope is that once chemo is done, things will again get into the standard range and I can get off the pills and just exercise and eat better.  Trying to stay positive and full of hope.