Tuesday was my second infusion. I can see why people say the side effects are accumulative. I was tired sooner after the infusion & was already nauseated by Wed morning. I'm taking an oral steroid to help with the tiredness (and supposed to help with nausea too, but it's not working for me) and I also took Claratin right before my neulasta patch started giving me the med. I read that it can help with the bone ache. So far, so good. I ordered PSI bands to wear on my wrists that are supposed to help with nausea. I can't really tell a difference yet, but hopefully they'll start working soon.
I woke up at 5:30am this morning starving- probably because of the steroids. I think I'll be the first person going through chemo to gain weight (actually, I know this isn't true- I think it's a myth that everyone loses weight during chemo). My oncologist told me she doesn't want me to lose more than 5 lbs during treatment, but at this point, I've gained about 5 lbs! This is after needing to lose a bit anyway. Oh well, my health is more important than looking good in a bathing suit right now!
I've got a new side-effect going on- hot flashes. Wow, do they ever suck. I was told that chemo would put me in early menopause, but ugh. Can cancer make me feel like even less of a woman?! Losing my hair, going to lose my boobs & my fertility too. And of course the weight gain. I keep trying to remind myself that most of this is temporary (the hair and weight gain, anyway) but it's hard not to feel crappy about it.
I did find out that I'm only going to have to do 4 rounds every two weeks of the 2nd type of chemo (Taxol) instead of 12 doses weekly. So my last infusion should be on/around May 31st. The doctor said that the second type of chemo isn't as bad as these first 2 types, so I'm hoping the second half of this journey will be a bit easier.
The 4 infusions of Taxol was good news, but I got even better news from my oncologist on Tuesday. My genetic tests came back and everything looks great! This means that my kids won't have to worry about being predisposed to get cancer! Woot! I'm so happy that this just seems to be some random thing that happened to me and my kids (and siblings) don't have a higher risk.
In other news, the kids are doing great with all the changes I'm going through. The twins don't really notice that my hair is gone (the little stubble is falling out at a pretty rapid rate now). I have an appt mid-March to have a wig fitting. I don't anticipate wearing the wig much, but it'll be nice to have for special nights out or when I don't want to look like a cancer patient LOL
I just want to say thank you again to everyone who's praying for us, sending vibes of healing, making meals & making/buying hats. I can never say thank you enough for your kindness and love.
ReplyDeleteWonderful to hear the good news about the genetic tests. Not everyone is as strong as you are to handle this journey.