Round 4 was not the most fun. I was definitely experiencing more side effects than any of the previous 3 rounds. The ear ringing has become almost a constant low buzz, with occasional sharp rings. I was also had a lot more nausea and fatigue during this time. The fatigue lingered on throughout the entire time, including on the cruise, just not as severe as it is during the first week or so after treatments.
When I went for Round 4, they asked that I come in for a check up the day before we left on vacation. I went in and they drew some blood and found that my immunity was very low. Due to this they prescribed me some "preventative" antibiotics to start taking immediately before we left. They also had a laundry list of things that they would "prefer" me not to do on my vacation, such as go in the ocean, go in direct sunlight, eat from the buffet, etc. Needless to say, I did not follow directions very well.
I did manage to avoid the buffet for the majority of the cruise. We ate lunch in the buffet on the very first day, but after that I never went back. Instead, we went for breakfast in the main dining room every day, where you could get made to order omelets as well as a variety of other items served from the kitchen instead of the buffet. For lunches we would go to the specialty restaurants and dinner was always served in the main dining room. My least compliance was probably with the sunlight, although I did slather on the 100spf sun screen constantly.
My biggest mistake was the ocean. On Tuesday, about half way through the cruise, we were in St. Maarten and I went in the ocean at the beach. I got caught in a wave and a huge spray of ocean water shot up my nose and down my throat, which immediately started burning. The sore throat transitioned to a runny nose, which transitioned to a violent cough. Luckily it developed slowly (probably since I was still on antibiotics), and the cough didn't really start until Friday afternoon and we docked/flew home Saturday. Unfortunately, the cough, congestion, and runny nose are still pretty bad now.
Yesterday I started Round 5 of treatment and today I saw the Nurse practioner before my treatment. She prescribed me some stronger antibiotics to help get rid of what ever is causing my cough. Only about a month until I get new scans again and determine what next steps are.
