This is the seventh in a series of blog posts about my experiences as a cancer patient and survivor. Before we begin, I want to be clear that all opinions expressed here are my own. Nothing that I say in these posts should be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, you need to reach out to a licensed medical professional immediately.

One of the most intimidating things for me initially was receiving the BINDER’S WORTH of disclosures about the medications I would be receiving during chemotherapy. Each drug was its own packet–and they were LONG. The biggest section of the packet would be the potential side effects, and they are all awful side effects.

It’s kind of like when you are watching TV and you see a commercial for some drug (why are they even allowed to advertise drugs?), and you hear the list of side effects and think to yourself, “Surely X condition wouldn’t be nearly as bad as all those things?!?”

…that’s chemotherapy.