Tomorrow is my last day of chemo. Right now I feel tired but good, and the horrible effects of chemo are a little like a distant memory. Let me fill you in on what's happened since I last posted.
I've had a different family member visit me during each chemo round (my parents several times--individually and together, all 4 sisters, and my mother-in-law). I'm hoping that they will all write a little something for me to post here so I can remember specific details from each weekend.
My last AC chemo round was the very worst. My recovery time lengthened after each treatment, and two weeks after my fourth AC round when I went to the hospital for my first round of Taxol I could barely walk. It was a struggle sitting up to meet with my doctor, and eventually I just laid down and curled up on the table during our consult. I was hopeful that Taxol would be a break and be super easy for me.
Shocker, it's NOT!! Here was my daily symptom schedule for the first two rounds, before we figured some things out. Sidenote: everyone reacts to chemo differently, and my doctor told me last time that she's rarely seen a patient suffer as much as I have. Lucky me. Anyway, there has been a lot of trial and error/consulting other specialists in figuring out how to treat chemo side effects, which has been pretty frustrating.
Thursday: Chemo Day. Same schedule as before, but once I get into the chemo suite it's actually about a 4-5 hour pre-med/infusion experience. I get steroids, Benadryl, and Pepcid for my pre-meds, mostly to control any allergic reaction that may occur. The Benadryl makes me super sleepy and I usually can sleep for about the first half of the infusion. Before we start the actual chemo meds I need to start icing my fingers and toes. This is to prevent neuropathy, and to prevent my nails from lifting up and falling off. I've tried a few different methods but last week we got a pretty good one nailed down. Socks on both hands and feet, ice bags over the socks on my fingers and toes, and then socks over the bags of ice to hold them in place. It doesn't feel that great. Once eveything is done I get my Neulasta shot put on my stomach and we take an Uber to dinner. Taxol doesn't make me nauseous so the past few times we've gone to a steakhouse (The Palm, across the street from our house) and I eat a few pieces of steak, lots of french fries, and some fruit. Halfway through dinner my body starts to feel dead so we walk home and I go to bed.
Friday: This day is actually pretty good! I went on a few adventures with Mary Beth when she visited to Brookfield Place, which is a block away. When Elise visited for my third round we got our nails done, ate pizza, and I got a massage. This was unfathomable when I was on AC. My Neulasta shot goes in at night but I still feel good. We can usually go out to dinner somewhere close by on Friday night too.
Saturday: I wake up with Neulasta symptoms--feeling like I got run over by a bus. If you try to touch me I will yelp and it will hurt. Around the afternoon I get a weird lightheaded feeling and go lay on my bed and that is the start of the bad stuff.
My main symptom from Taxol is neuropathy in my legs--it feels like I have creepy crawlies everywhere, very much like restless legs during pregnancy. I get relief from pain meds and from people who will squeeze my legs.
Sunday: My legs hurt really badly, and I try to stay on top of pain meds and sleep through it.
Monday: My legs still hurt.
Tuesday: The pain has decreased enough so that I don't have to constantly medicate. During the first two rounds this is the day my abdominal pain would flare up.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: Excruciating abdominal pain, especially at night. A week after my second round we finally figured out that I needed to add an additional acid reflux med and that completely erased my abdominal pain for the third round!
Sat-Wed: I feel good, back to my normal self. I pushed it hard this week and today I'm feeling wiped out, so I know I still need to pace myself. Wednesday night of course is always my pre-chemo clean-out. Tonight I tackled my pantry, kitchen cabinets, closet, and bathroom. It helps me calm down and feel like life is manageable, so it's been a good coping mechanism for me.
So there's my Taxol schedule. The GREAT news for my final round is that I don't have to have my Neulasta shot because I don't have another chemo treatment in two weeks! That means I should feel much better on Saturday until the leg pain starts to kick in. Sunday and Monday will be rough but I can get through that.
There have been more side effects than I can really think of right now, but one that I have been feeling a lot lately is "chemo brain." My brain function feels foggy, and my processing speed has decreased. I can't think of words and I can stare at a bill for a minute and have no idea how to compute the tip. It can be embarrassing and disheartening, but I have faith that someday I'll get back to being a functional human!
Thank you to everyone who has continued to reach out, send gifts, visit, text, call, and pray. We have come really far but there is still so much ahead. It feels good to be so close to such a major milestone of finishing chemo, but it's also scary because it's been my routine since July and as horrible as it has been, there is comfort in routine. Scans and surgery are next and that is really scary for me. Please continue to pray for me and my family, especially in the next few days and weeks, as we will find out the effectiveness of the chemo and where we go from here.
Love you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment