The Night of the Living Side Effect

The Night of the Living Side Effect

As anyone living in the USA knows, all drugs have potential side effects.  I will confess to having churlishly laughed out loud at the side effects of drugs meant to make you less nervous when chatting up women only to discover that the side effects include bad breath, flatulence, dandruff, incontinence and a dozen other things guaranteed to impress the woman of your dreams.
I've been lucky to suffer no side effects from my chemo treatment - in fact I have generally felt a hell of a lot better than I've felt in a year or more.  On Friday, I made up for all that.
It started on Thursday with a mild sore throat (which, 3 days later, has gone completely).  I put it down to erosion from drinking half a gallon of water a day.  Then Friday night became The Night of the Long Pee.  It started in the evening with a sudden desire to pee every 20 minutes or so and not just to pee but to pee right bloody now.  And, having got to the bathroom, peeing with all the pressure of a twisted garden hose so that it took 5 minutes to get through.  Meanwhile my patient family were sitting in front of the TV with the program paused.  To add insult to injury I developed flatulence of which I would have been proud as a teenager - I produced enough methane to fuel a small town or inflate a blimp.  And so to bed.
I really don't enjoy getting up every hour to pee (although it beats the alternative) but that's what I did Friday night.  Can I stop now, please?  I managed to lose four pounds overnight which a lot of folks going to Weight Watchers would be delighted to do, I suppose.
And now it's Sunday.  Waterworks back under control, I have dug a bloody great ditch in the backyard to try to persuade at least some rain to run down, I've come up with a decent plan for building steps down from the patio to the porch that won't crumble or wash away under normal circumstances and, about half an hour ago, hit my beloved wall while walking across the parking lot at Earth Fare.  So time for a vaguely lazy afternoon.
As I am no longer allowed to eat rare beef, I will devote half an hour or so to starting a sauerbraten which marinades for a week before being cooked to buggery.  
Tomorrow I get ripped off - it's chemo day which I have been taking off school as I feel wrung out by about 2 pm but school is closed tomorrow.  Not fair but at least I get to teach only one class on Tuesday to make up for it.
OK - time to sign my life away to United Healthcare so they'll pay at least some of my prescription bills.  Roll on universal healthcare.

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