[Illustration by ChatGPT]
Or, perhaps, miscounting.

Since starting The Chemo Chronicles, I’ve fallen into a particular way of referring to the post-chemo period when the negative side effects rock my days.

My regular schedule has been chemo infusion on Friday. I then have referred to Saturday as the first full day after chemo, or Day 1. Sunday as the second full day, or Day 2, and so on.

But when I started trying to compare notes on just when the side effects hit, I realized that I might be counting differently than others. When I referred to Sunday through Wednesday as days 2-5, was that what others also meant by days 2-5?

Faced with this ambiguity, I did an online search for the generally accepted method of counting.

And, sure enough, I was wrong. Here’s what I learned.

In standard oncology schedules, Saturday is Day 2.

Chemotherapy cycle protocols count the day of infusion as Day 1:

Friday: Day 1 (infusion day)
Saturday: Day 2
Sunday: Day 3

This numbering matters most when timing at-home medications (such as anti-nausea pills, steroids, or white-blood-cell booster injections like Neulasta or Zarxio) and tracking expected side-effect timelines.

To add to the confusion, I was also cautioned that oncologists often refer to first day after infusion, second day after infusion, etc.

But, lacking that qualifier, the count of days most commonly includes infusion day as Day 1.

In my own case, this means that the side effects are worst on days 3-6 following a Friday chemo treatment, Sunday through Wednesday.

So from here forward, I’ll use this as the standard manner of counting, hopefully making comparisons to the experience of others a little easier.

By that count, this is Day 6. Wednesday. I’m still feeling the side effects, although I expect they’ll be subsiding as the day goes on.

But, as usual, we’ll see.