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Chemo Round 5
Five down, one to go! Easier said than done. Symptoms takes a couple days to really kick in. The first thing I notice is the dry mouth. It’s not bad right away because this is when I guzzle the most water. Water, the cure for everything cancer-related, keeps away the dry mouth and mouth sores. The other is fatigue. A lot because my legs are still swollen (I’ll start the water pills tomorrow AM). Next week will be the worst of it. I’ll need to do lots of resting. But for now, I feel good and am in good spirits! I had a fun time with my chemo buddy, another…
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Chemo Postponement
Dammit! I knew it was going to happen. It’s a bummer but I sorta planned on this happening anyway, so it’s not too upsetting. Hopefully, resting another week will increase that platelet count so I can get chemo next week. The retest will happen next Wednesday, so that’ll be the go/no-go for final treatment. They also scheduled me for an echo on the same day I’m supposed to get the infusion. This moves my surgery date, of course. I was able to talk to the doctor’s nurse and reschedule it for February 23rd. A whole month away…this gives us wiggle room in case chemo is rescheduled again. It was that…
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Chemo is a go
Never have I been so excited to get chemo! ???? I must have some kind of cold because those platelets really shot up (I went from 47 to 253 – I needed anything over 75). I do have a watery nose but it hasn’t been anything that’s annoying me. (OK, maybe a little bit.) When I went in to get bloodwork done, I noticed the COVID notice had gone from one visitor allowed to NONE. So my friend is unable to go with me for the infusion, which is a real bummer. But, thanks to technology, we can livestream and watch shows. She’s a fellow analog nerd, so we’ll be…
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Echo
On Tuesday, I had an echocardiogram. Had one before chemo started for a baseline since the chemo drugs I was on can impair heart function. Got the results back pretty quickly, and if Google told me right, everything looks normal! Excellent news. That same morning, my very busy oncologist called me to talk to me – I got nervous at first. She called because I don’t need to have any more infusions until surgery. They’re waiting to see if I’ve had a complete response to the chemo, and from there, there are two drug paths I could go on. So if there’s still cancer, they’d swap out on drug for…
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Chemo Side Effects: Update
The worst of the chemo side effects are over, but there are still some lingering ones. Nails Several of them are starting to lift towards the end of my fingertips. None have fallen off yet. I’m keeping my nails short so I don’t catch them on anything. Right now, they haven’t lifted completely off, which is good. Several of them look pretty dark/bruised, but the rest look normal. I can tell that the chemo side effects are starting to fade – my nails got kinda thick and strong during it. My normal nails break pretty easily…which is what a few of them are doing now. Hot Flashes I get these…
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Laura’s Chemotherapy Tips
I had plans to write this post at some point, but a dear friend of mine has a parent about to embark on the chemo ride. If you don’t mind sending out those good, healing vibes out into the universe like you did for me, I’d appreciate it. Note that I did NOT use any of the ice on my extremities or my head. I didn’t want to sit for chemo longer than I had to. Chemo Tips Everyone’s symptoms/side effects are vastly different. It can be tough to hear others are doing better or worse. You’ll find after talking to many cancer patients that experiences have a wide range.…
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Chemoversary
January 24th, 2022, was the last time I had a chemo infusion. The main chemo, anyway. I’m not surprised the anniversary didn’t pop out at me. It’s kind of easy to forget, considering I want to forget. Leftover Symptoms A year out from the worst of chemo (chemo still technically continued until December 2022 with that Phesgo shot): The Aftermath I still get hot flashes which I had during chemo, but I think that’s due more to the stomach implant I get that suppresses ovary function. I physically feel good, for the most part. Not gonna lie, the kids and I have been sick like 95% of the winter so…
