Those tingling fingers

A couple of weeks ago I was tapping on my iPad as usual and for some reason the letters got all jumbled up.  I should say, they seemed more jumbled up than usual. I am a touch typist and I don't usually make too many mistakes.  This time I did and it was very strange.  I took a good look at my fingers and realised that there was something wrong with the tip of every one of them.  They were tingling and when I touched something, it felt different from what I expected. There was a dullness to the touch.

Neuropathy!

I was horrified.  Isn't it enough that I have neuropathy in my feet from the chemo seven years ago, now I have it in my fingers as well?  At first I felt very sorry for myself, but then I started to wonder what could give me this new unwelcome surprise? Well, there were only a few culprits - methotrexate, 5FU, cyclophosphamide or the exemestane.

I immediately ruled out the exemestane, but then told myself: 'hang on, let's take a look at the possible side effects.' So, I did. Well, that doesn't seem to be a side effect, but vision problems are. Aha! That's another problem that's crept up on me. Lately, my glasses have been bothering me. I have trouble focusing when I work on the computer. It all looks fuzzy. When I told the professor, he asked if I saw double. No, I said, it's more like an angle split than double. Weird. I thought it was the frame that was getting out of shape and went to the optometrist twice already.  She suggested I get a cheap reading glass from the chemist to use for working on the computer.  Well, it's better, but I think I better have the eyes examined properly.

OK, back to neuropathy.

I just found an article about this condition and learned that it's called 'chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN. Unfortunately it doesn't mention any of my chemo poisons, but it talks about Taxol, which is what I had seven years ago and thought was the cause of the problem with my feet. Nice to have confirmation.

So, let's dig further. What about cyclophosphamide? No, it causes hair loss. My hair has gotten thinner and there are small bald patches on my scalp, but you wouldn't know looking at me, so moving right along.....

What about 5FU?

No. So, there's only methotrexate left.

Well, that doesn't seem to be that either.

What did I learn from this exercise? Probably that it's best not to trust my own internet research and I better continue with keeping communication lines open with the Professor. I usually compile a long list of complaints, so I will continue to stick to that practice. Saves much time and mental frustration.