Ok...no excuses here other than laziness. It has been a REALLY long time since my last post. It's not to say I haven't thought about posting, I'm just always too lazy/tired to do it. So...to catch everyone up, I'll be brief but also sure to make sure I don't leave anything out.
AC Chemo treatments #3 and #4 were pretty uneventful in terms of side effects. I would say the fatigue was definitely there but it also in many ways felt my body was "getting used to" feeling crappy so it was almost a feeling of "normal". We did experience a hiccup though in my treatment unfortunately. Although, in the list of hiccups, this wasn't as bad as it could have been. I had to get my PowerPort replaced.
Not long after AC #2 infusion, I woke up one morning with some minor bleeding from my neck. It looked like my stitches had come loose. After trying everything I could to help it close back up I had to let my nurse Kelly know I was getting concerned. Thankfully I work around a bunch of nurses who were keeping an eye on me during that time (I think it was a little short of 2 weeks) and monitoring my wound but it started to turn red and felt a little sore. I went back to Interventional Radiology and they put me on antibiotics (Keflex) and put surgical glue back on the wound to help it close. This was all precautionary to help make sure the wound didn't become infected. Unfortunately that didn't work and I found myself back in Interventional Radiology a few days later. This time though, the catheter had become exposed and I knew it was a greater risk for infection. I was a mess. I knew there would be set backs but I also secretly hoped I would be the exception to this. At Interventional Radiology, they decided this time since the glue didn't work, they would do the traditional suture and sew me back up.
I've never had stitches before. Never had a broken bone or anything so I was pretty nervous as ridiculous as that may sound. I was fortunate though to have a colleague of mine accompany me. I get gowned up and the PA comes in with his suture kit. I ask him if he's going to numb the area and he said he WASN'T!!! WHAT! Ok, I became even more nervous. His logic made complete sense in that the skin near my neck isn't that thick and would mean 2 additional needle sticks. So, I braced myself and honestly, yes it hurt, but the worst of it was the feeling of the tugging at my neck to make the stitch tight. I wanted to puke. I reminded me of all the times I've hemmed a pair of pants. Basically, the PA was sewing me back together. But it was over before I knew it and I was back at work.
So, you'd think I'd be done right....wrong. I kept my stitch covered with a bandage. This began the onset of my second complication. Apparently I'm allergic to bandaids...but only on certain areas of my skin. I've NEVER been allergic to bandaids. So, keeping my stitch covered was a toss up - run the possible risk of infection or keep it covered and deal with the rash. I chose to deal with the rash. After a couple days of having very raw skin, we noticed the stitch didn't work. The catheter became exposed again. I called Kelly and the PA from Interventional Radiology, everyone agreed it was time replace the port because it was an infection risk. I was so mad and frustrated. I felt like I didn't do everything I could have/should have to make sure everything went smoothly. Needless to say, I was nervous but was scheduled to have the port replaced 3 days later.
The port replacement was scheduled for Thursday, March 14, 2013. I made sure I talked to the team doing the procedure to make sure I knew what we were going to do different so I didn't run into the same problem again 2 months from now. I'm happy to report everything went perfectly smooth. They put a smaller port in called a SlimPort. In some ways, it went too smooth. Apparently I started divulging childhood secrets I've never told anyone (not even my parents). Everyone had a good laugh though.
AC Chemo #4 was the day after the port procedure and it went really well. No problems with accessing the port and we were able to finally check off that part of my treatment. I did feel a little more achy that time but I think it was due to the fact that I had the port put in. After that, it was time for me to shift gears and focus on Taxol. I enjoyed my 2 weeks off and mentally prepared for Taxol.
I started Taxol & Herceptin on 03/29. I will go weekly for 12 weeks. My oncologist said Taxol is supposed to be easier and he was right! I woke up the morning of chemo, cleaned the bathroom, and then hung a few pieces of drywall with my dad who was visiting to help us finish our basement. The chemo treatment turned into an all day thing just because they administered it slowly to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction. Thankfully, no reaction. We went home, and I felt energized later that night (must have been the steroids). The next morning, I felt surprisingly normal. I even hung more drywall with my dad. Sunday I felt a little achy but nothing too bad and honestly, I don't know if it was the chemo or from being sore from the drywall work. Then that brings us to today...I'm still a little achy and I feel a little feverish. It's the same feeling I would get with AC where i would feel like I'm burning up for a couple hours (but with no fever) and then it would pass.
Overall, I think I can hang in there for another 11 weeks. We're still on track as originally planned, and Spring has finally decided to join us. Maybe next weekend I'll work on a garden or something outdoors. Who knows. Life is starting to feel back to normal though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll stay that way.
Showing posts with label chemotherapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chemotherapy. Show all posts
Monday, April 1, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Mr. Clean's twin sister & AC #2
It's been a while since my last post. Rest assured...everything is fine. In fact, almost too fine. I've been so caught up with being normal I put off posting. Going back to where I left off. It was getting close to Valentine's day and still no hair loss. I thought it was pretty bold for my Breast Care team to be able to tell me the actual day I would see my hair loss. I was convinced they were wrong because on the morning of February 13th, I still had no hair loss. Actually, I take that back, I didn't have to shave my legs. But I still had all my hair on my head and I even tried to pull and no luck in removing hair.
I went to work and by afternoon realized I was the one who was too confident. Why on earth did I actually even try to think I was "different" and my medical team predicted my hair loss wrong? I was in a meeting and casually ran my hand through my hair...OH MY GOODNESS! I was able to pull probably 15 or so hairs out. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was shocked. I let myself cry my two tears and then I couldn't wait to show my friends that it was happening.
By Friday (02/15), the hair loss was in full swing and it was chemo day. I was determined though to wait until the weekend to shave my head. Thank goodness I had thick hair so it really just looked thinned down. I'm happy to announce that chemo #2 was even more normal than the 1st time around. Adam and I showed up at 8:45. I brought a lighter load of things to keep me occupied this time. They brought me back, took my temperature and vitals and then it was time to go back to chemo. We had our choice of seats again and picked a nice secluded section in the back corner.
I was a little nervous, hoping that my port didn't act up this time around. I got my mask on and Kelly (my nurse) put her's on while she accessed my port. To my relief, the port worked perfectly! She got me all set up to where I was ready to receive chemo and then we were off to an exam room to meet with my oncologist for a check-up. Everything looked good and blood work came back good so I was cleared for chemo #2. Before I knew it, I was on my laptop trying to catch up on some email from work and Adam watched some tv.
We had our dear friend, Andre, visit again. He is so nice to take time out of his day and come sit with us during the treatment and keep us entertained. One of these days we will convince him to come to lunch with us. It's always nice to have company to keep us distracted from the reality of why we are there.
After chemo, Adam and I went to lunch at Chili's. BAD IDEA! If there is one piece of advice I can give about how I handle chemo it's that unhealthy food and chemo do not mix. While it tasted okay at the time, I paid for it later that night with the nausea. I didn't throw up but I was not having a good time. All in all, the rest of the weekend was mild. Even the muscle pain from the Neulasta wasn't even comparable to what it was the first time around. The nausea overall was worse but I wonder if that's in part my fault.
On Saturday morning, I knew it was time to shave my head. I was tired of being covered in hair. I called my neighbor Julie and she came over to help take pictures and videotape the event. Adam got his cutters and we went to town buzzing my head. I didn't want to shave it all the way down knowing I was immunosuppresed and didn't want to possibly cut myself and risking infection so we held off on that. But obviously we had to have some fun so first we did a mo hawk and then colored it pink and blue. Then it was time to go bald. All in all, it was somewhat liberating to shave my head. The way I look at it is I still got to have some control on when I went bald. Also, a good friend of mine who went through the head shave experience told me to look at it as a sign of the chemo doing exactly what it was supposed to. Since then, I've shaved it down to where my skin is baby soft. It's a weird in the fact that it's my head yet nice kinda soft. Now all I need is a white t-shirt, some rubber cleaning gloves and a spray bottle and I'll be Mr. Clean's sister. :)
If there's anything I have learned, it is to always look for the positive. Yeah the nausea was worse this time, so much so that I'm now taking another medication for acid reflux, but in the grand scheme of things, I'm just thankful it's not worse where I'm visiting the porcelain god every 5 minutes or contracting some type of infection.
Alright folks, that's 2 AC chemo treatments down....2 more to go. Next one is Friday!
I went to work and by afternoon realized I was the one who was too confident. Why on earth did I actually even try to think I was "different" and my medical team predicted my hair loss wrong? I was in a meeting and casually ran my hand through my hair...OH MY GOODNESS! I was able to pull probably 15 or so hairs out. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was shocked. I let myself cry my two tears and then I couldn't wait to show my friends that it was happening.
By Friday (02/15), the hair loss was in full swing and it was chemo day. I was determined though to wait until the weekend to shave my head. Thank goodness I had thick hair so it really just looked thinned down. I'm happy to announce that chemo #2 was even more normal than the 1st time around. Adam and I showed up at 8:45. I brought a lighter load of things to keep me occupied this time. They brought me back, took my temperature and vitals and then it was time to go back to chemo. We had our choice of seats again and picked a nice secluded section in the back corner.
I was a little nervous, hoping that my port didn't act up this time around. I got my mask on and Kelly (my nurse) put her's on while she accessed my port. To my relief, the port worked perfectly! She got me all set up to where I was ready to receive chemo and then we were off to an exam room to meet with my oncologist for a check-up. Everything looked good and blood work came back good so I was cleared for chemo #2. Before I knew it, I was on my laptop trying to catch up on some email from work and Adam watched some tv.
We had our dear friend, Andre, visit again. He is so nice to take time out of his day and come sit with us during the treatment and keep us entertained. One of these days we will convince him to come to lunch with us. It's always nice to have company to keep us distracted from the reality of why we are there.
After chemo, Adam and I went to lunch at Chili's. BAD IDEA! If there is one piece of advice I can give about how I handle chemo it's that unhealthy food and chemo do not mix. While it tasted okay at the time, I paid for it later that night with the nausea. I didn't throw up but I was not having a good time. All in all, the rest of the weekend was mild. Even the muscle pain from the Neulasta wasn't even comparable to what it was the first time around. The nausea overall was worse but I wonder if that's in part my fault.
On Saturday morning, I knew it was time to shave my head. I was tired of being covered in hair. I called my neighbor Julie and she came over to help take pictures and videotape the event. Adam got his cutters and we went to town buzzing my head. I didn't want to shave it all the way down knowing I was immunosuppresed and didn't want to possibly cut myself and risking infection so we held off on that. But obviously we had to have some fun so first we did a mo hawk and then colored it pink and blue. Then it was time to go bald. All in all, it was somewhat liberating to shave my head. The way I look at it is I still got to have some control on when I went bald. Also, a good friend of mine who went through the head shave experience told me to look at it as a sign of the chemo doing exactly what it was supposed to. Since then, I've shaved it down to where my skin is baby soft. It's a weird in the fact that it's my head yet nice kinda soft. Now all I need is a white t-shirt, some rubber cleaning gloves and a spray bottle and I'll be Mr. Clean's sister. :)
If there's anything I have learned, it is to always look for the positive. Yeah the nausea was worse this time, so much so that I'm now taking another medication for acid reflux, but in the grand scheme of things, I'm just thankful it's not worse where I'm visiting the porcelain god every 5 minutes or contracting some type of infection.
Alright folks, that's 2 AC chemo treatments down....2 more to go. Next one is Friday!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
L-A-Z-Y Movie kinda weekend
Ok, so I think I left off with Friday night and that I felt fine aside from feeling a little tipsy. I still went to bed early (for a Friday night) figuring I should get as much rest as I can.
The next morning, I got up, took a shower, and knew it was time to cut my hair. This was a bittersweet moment for me. I've been letting my hair grow for about 2 years in preparation for our wedding this past November. But...it was time. I put my hair in a ponytail, got my best craft scissors, and made sure the video camera was ready to go. Adam cut my hair for me and Ariel recorded the whole thing. It is so weird how light my head felt after all that. In all, we cut off 15 inches of hair! And my hair still goes to my shoulders and I can still put it in a ponytail.
Ariel had to leave pretty soon after and Adam was ecstatic for our l-a-z-y weekend ahead. We spent the rest of the day pretty much on the couch, just making sure to take it easy. It was the perfect movie weekend. I felt pretty good that day. Just a small headache that motrin took care of and some mild indigestion. Otherwise....that was it. If there was one thing I have learned in preparation of chemo, it was how important it is to stay hydrated. I drank more water/juice that weekend than I ever have and I'd like to think that it helped. I also read that the chemo actually does it's job in 4-8 hours after getting it. From there it's critical you flush your system to get the toxin out of your body, hence the importance of staying hydrated.
Later that night, Adam gave me the Neulasta shot, pretty painless. Again, I went to bed fairly early knowing that for most people, day 3-4 is the worst of the chemo so I didn't know what to expect for Sunday. I woke up Sunday and I knew it was kicking in. I was achy in my muscles. It was weird though because it was only from the top of my neck down to the last rib and everything in between. I took some motrin and that seemed to help a little, but not really. I stayed on the couch all day and it seemed ridiculous with all the medication I was taking. Once the motrin wore off we decided to try the oxycodone but that too didn't seem to help. So I just laid on the couch the rest of the day trying not to move too much. Thankfully, the medication was good and helped me sleep.
Monday came and still the muscle pain. In some ways it was the same in that the pain was still there but in other ways it was better in that it was no longer concentrated in my upper body but had spread all throughout my body, just not as intense. I emailed my nurse, Kelly, to see if there was some other pain medication they could recommend for the side effects and come to find out I wasn't taking enough pain medicine. I took the right dose this time and boy did that make all the difference. I was able to take it easy the rest of the day feeling tired but otherwise okay.
I figured it would be best to plan to stay home Tuesday in case the body pain was still there. I woke up Tuesday morning with the pain gone. I felt great actually. Adam was with me and we figured we would just extend the lazy weekend 1 more day. I got up to work from home and even cleaned the kitchen. But after that....whoa....I felt the fatigue. It was weird....something that I normally could do with little effort took soooo much out of me. This is what they meant by the fatigue. So, I took it easy that day by just slowing down...taking longer than I normally would to do everyday things.
I decided it was time to go back to work the next day. I was able to work the rest of the week but I definitely felt the fatigue. I would have to take breaks but so long as I moved slow, I was okay. Each day I felt stronger and stronger and by Friday, I felt pretty much back to 100%.
Sadly, it's only 5 more days until the next round. I've got mixed emotions about it. I'm excited because come Friday night, this means I'll be half-way done with the "bad chemo". But, at the same time, I know what's coming. While it wasn't too bad and I'm extremely thankful for that, it definitely wasn't fun. So...I guess I'll just enjoy the good days I have coming knowing that next weekend will be another l-a-z-y movie weekend.
The next morning, I got up, took a shower, and knew it was time to cut my hair. This was a bittersweet moment for me. I've been letting my hair grow for about 2 years in preparation for our wedding this past November. But...it was time. I put my hair in a ponytail, got my best craft scissors, and made sure the video camera was ready to go. Adam cut my hair for me and Ariel recorded the whole thing. It is so weird how light my head felt after all that. In all, we cut off 15 inches of hair! And my hair still goes to my shoulders and I can still put it in a ponytail.
Ariel had to leave pretty soon after and Adam was ecstatic for our l-a-z-y weekend ahead. We spent the rest of the day pretty much on the couch, just making sure to take it easy. It was the perfect movie weekend. I felt pretty good that day. Just a small headache that motrin took care of and some mild indigestion. Otherwise....that was it. If there was one thing I have learned in preparation of chemo, it was how important it is to stay hydrated. I drank more water/juice that weekend than I ever have and I'd like to think that it helped. I also read that the chemo actually does it's job in 4-8 hours after getting it. From there it's critical you flush your system to get the toxin out of your body, hence the importance of staying hydrated.
Later that night, Adam gave me the Neulasta shot, pretty painless. Again, I went to bed fairly early knowing that for most people, day 3-4 is the worst of the chemo so I didn't know what to expect for Sunday. I woke up Sunday and I knew it was kicking in. I was achy in my muscles. It was weird though because it was only from the top of my neck down to the last rib and everything in between. I took some motrin and that seemed to help a little, but not really. I stayed on the couch all day and it seemed ridiculous with all the medication I was taking. Once the motrin wore off we decided to try the oxycodone but that too didn't seem to help. So I just laid on the couch the rest of the day trying not to move too much. Thankfully, the medication was good and helped me sleep.
Monday came and still the muscle pain. In some ways it was the same in that the pain was still there but in other ways it was better in that it was no longer concentrated in my upper body but had spread all throughout my body, just not as intense. I emailed my nurse, Kelly, to see if there was some other pain medication they could recommend for the side effects and come to find out I wasn't taking enough pain medicine. I took the right dose this time and boy did that make all the difference. I was able to take it easy the rest of the day feeling tired but otherwise okay.
I figured it would be best to plan to stay home Tuesday in case the body pain was still there. I woke up Tuesday morning with the pain gone. I felt great actually. Adam was with me and we figured we would just extend the lazy weekend 1 more day. I got up to work from home and even cleaned the kitchen. But after that....whoa....I felt the fatigue. It was weird....something that I normally could do with little effort took soooo much out of me. This is what they meant by the fatigue. So, I took it easy that day by just slowing down...taking longer than I normally would to do everyday things.
I decided it was time to go back to work the next day. I was able to work the rest of the week but I definitely felt the fatigue. I would have to take breaks but so long as I moved slow, I was okay. Each day I felt stronger and stronger and by Friday, I felt pretty much back to 100%.
Sadly, it's only 5 more days until the next round. I've got mixed emotions about it. I'm excited because come Friday night, this means I'll be half-way done with the "bad chemo". But, at the same time, I know what's coming. While it wasn't too bad and I'm extremely thankful for that, it definitely wasn't fun. So...I guess I'll just enjoy the good days I have coming knowing that next weekend will be another l-a-z-y movie weekend.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Bionic Woman
So...I know it's been a while since I've posted. Needless to say it's been a busy week and most of it's been spent recovering from everything I've had done.
To start, I had the port put in and all I have to say is G-R-E-A-T S-U-C-C-E-S-S!!! We did run into some hiccups along the way but I won't go in to detail about that as it was more to do with the staff we dealt with and not the overall process. I find that in the event someone else who may be reading this is looking for reassurance in their own journey, my purpose is not to scare you, but to show you that I was fine! :)
We checked in for the port at 12:30 with a 2:00 procedure time. I went back pretty much right away to get my hospital garb on and get an IV started. I have to admit, the IV hurt a bit but that was because they put it in my hand and is not the case with with all people. I guess I was just lucky :). Unfortunately for me, my 2:00 procedure time turned to 5:00. It was the day after a holiday weekend and there was an emergency that bumped me back, so all I can say in looking back at it is that at least it wasn't me with the emergency.
The total procedure time was about 30 minutes. They took me back to the procedure room and had me get on the OR table. They gave me twilight medication to make me out of it and I actually ended up falling asleep. What I remember though is that they cleaned the area (obviously) and they actually used an ultrasound or some type of imaging to help them put the port in. So don't be worried if it reminds you of lying on a table for an x-ray. When I woke up, I was just ready to go. Unfortunately at that point it was nearly 6pm-6:30 and I hadn't eaten anything since midnight. It made me lightheaded so we had to stick around a bit while I ate some graham crackers and drank some juice. But then we were free!!!
The next couple days I was sore but nothing that wasn't manageable. Per my oncologist, I just took some Tylenol as I needed it. Go figure, after a month of babying my right side from my lumpectomy, I went into full swing of babying the left and ended up pulling a muscle in my back on the right. So I ended up having a sore left-front side, and an aching back-right side. Not Fun!
A week later, I'm happy to say the surgical glue is starting to come off and while I'm anxious to get it off because it itches, I'm being as patient as I can to make sure it heals properly. Initially it felt weird to turn my neck but now I really can't feel it in me other than when I touch it or the catheter. It's definitely visible under my skin and makes me feel somewhat like a cyborg, but I'm somewhat proud that I have it. I know I'm doing everything I can to better help me get through the chemo.
I had Chemo prep today actually and they went ahead and did blood work. It was my first time accessing the port (at least while I was awake). All in all, it actually was surprisingly harmless. Let me tell you, it by far beats having a needle stick every day and seeing my arms getting bruised. All in all, I was really impressed with how well it went and how easy it was. They give me a cream to help numb it but because the surgical glue was still on, we couldn't use it. Instead, they just gave me an ice pack to help numb the area. They also flushed the port and gave me some Heparin to help prevent clotting. All in all, I'd day from the time they accessed the port to the time it was over, it was maybe 5 minutes? Not bad at all. I think I could get used to this (when you consider the alternative!)
Ok, I'll write back tomorrow to catch everyone up on everything else from this past week including chemo training and the IVF stuff.
To start, I had the port put in and all I have to say is G-R-E-A-T S-U-C-C-E-S-S!!! We did run into some hiccups along the way but I won't go in to detail about that as it was more to do with the staff we dealt with and not the overall process. I find that in the event someone else who may be reading this is looking for reassurance in their own journey, my purpose is not to scare you, but to show you that I was fine! :)
We checked in for the port at 12:30 with a 2:00 procedure time. I went back pretty much right away to get my hospital garb on and get an IV started. I have to admit, the IV hurt a bit but that was because they put it in my hand and is not the case with with all people. I guess I was just lucky :). Unfortunately for me, my 2:00 procedure time turned to 5:00. It was the day after a holiday weekend and there was an emergency that bumped me back, so all I can say in looking back at it is that at least it wasn't me with the emergency.
The total procedure time was about 30 minutes. They took me back to the procedure room and had me get on the OR table. They gave me twilight medication to make me out of it and I actually ended up falling asleep. What I remember though is that they cleaned the area (obviously) and they actually used an ultrasound or some type of imaging to help them put the port in. So don't be worried if it reminds you of lying on a table for an x-ray. When I woke up, I was just ready to go. Unfortunately at that point it was nearly 6pm-6:30 and I hadn't eaten anything since midnight. It made me lightheaded so we had to stick around a bit while I ate some graham crackers and drank some juice. But then we were free!!!
The next couple days I was sore but nothing that wasn't manageable. Per my oncologist, I just took some Tylenol as I needed it. Go figure, after a month of babying my right side from my lumpectomy, I went into full swing of babying the left and ended up pulling a muscle in my back on the right. So I ended up having a sore left-front side, and an aching back-right side. Not Fun!
A week later, I'm happy to say the surgical glue is starting to come off and while I'm anxious to get it off because it itches, I'm being as patient as I can to make sure it heals properly. Initially it felt weird to turn my neck but now I really can't feel it in me other than when I touch it or the catheter. It's definitely visible under my skin and makes me feel somewhat like a cyborg, but I'm somewhat proud that I have it. I know I'm doing everything I can to better help me get through the chemo.
I had Chemo prep today actually and they went ahead and did blood work. It was my first time accessing the port (at least while I was awake). All in all, it actually was surprisingly harmless. Let me tell you, it by far beats having a needle stick every day and seeing my arms getting bruised. All in all, I was really impressed with how well it went and how easy it was. They give me a cream to help numb it but because the surgical glue was still on, we couldn't use it. Instead, they just gave me an ice pack to help numb the area. They also flushed the port and gave me some Heparin to help prevent clotting. All in all, I'd day from the time they accessed the port to the time it was over, it was maybe 5 minutes? Not bad at all. I think I could get used to this (when you consider the alternative!)
Ok, I'll write back tomorrow to catch everyone up on everything else from this past week including chemo training and the IVF stuff.
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