Survivor's Blog August 11, 2013-- A tip about how to get out of bed and functioning on a really bad morning...

I have been meaning to put this tip to paper forever, and then I forget about it. Typical chemo brain!!! I use this tip almost every day. Today I remembered to post it so that you can give it a try. I use it every morning!

Just for the record, I am not advocating pushing yourself to get out of bed if you really need to stay in bed! I am not a doctor- just a person who has had to find ways to cope with cancer. This tip is for days when you feel like you could probably get going, if only you had a bit of help. I have talked to several chemotherapy patients that use this method  of waking up and getting going in the morning. I call my method:

Waking up in Stages:

Step 1: Have all of your cancer drugs within arms reach of your bed. Also have a glass of water with a lid and a straw within arms reach as well. If your pain drugs must be taken with food you want to add crackers to your nightstand too.

Step 2: Alarm #1- My first alarm bell of the day comes two hours prior to the time I must get out of bed. As soon as the first alarm rings, I sit up and decide if I need pain medicine or nausea medicine ( or both).  If I am really painful but, not super sick  to my stomach: I will take one dose of my pain medications, put on my anti nausea psi bands,  stuff down a couple crackers, and then set Alarm #2 for one hour out from my first alarm. If I am super sick I might also take a dose of nausea medication at this time.

If my feet are too sore to put on the floor, I also use this alarm to rub a cayenne based muscle rub on my feet and legs so that it takes effect by the time Alarm # 2 goes off.

Step 3: Alarm #2- When the second alarm rings, I will sit up and take an anti nausea pill if I still need one. Sometimes, if my pain medications and the Psi bands are working, I do not need anti nausea pills. If this is the case I will take my thyroid medication and sleep for one more hour before waking up the final time for Alarm #3.  If my feet are still sore, I will rub one more time with the muscle soreness stuff. When I am done, I set my alarm for one more hour out.


Step 4: Alarm #3- This is the final alarm. Generally, I feel well enough to put my feet on the floor at this point and go on with my morning routine. I always plan a bit more than an hour and a half  after this alarm to get out of the house because, many times I have to take a long hot bath to free up the rest of my muscles and nerve endings without bathing in Muscle rub.

If you are keeping count, my 4 step method for waking up takes three to four hours to accomplish. I plan ahead and assume I am going to use these hours to wake up every day. If I wake up feeling well when the first alarm rings, I go ahead and get up.

Most days though, I have to plan to start my first alarm 2 hours before I actually want to wake up and 3 1/2 to 4 hours before I need to leave the house.  So if I need to be up and out of bed at 8:00 am , I set my alarm clock for 6:00 am. This way I can do everything I need to do to get out of bed and function at the best level I can during the day.

I hope this tip helps those of you that are on chemo out. Waking in stages is a pain in the rear but, it beats not getting out of bed!!!!! I have been able to keep working and functioning in large part due to stumbling onto this method of making my pain and nausea livable.