Bear with me as I skip around while I get up to the present day. See, I am not an organized thinker. I am a logical person, but my logic is somewhat free-form. Trying to write down my thoughts is like trying to herd cats. But what I want to talk about now are side effects.
You know how you read the side of the cold medicine box and it says "May cause drowsiness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations and in rare instances you may sprout an extra head." Guarantee you, if I take that medicine, I will be sporting not just the extra head, but another foot and an extra arm. So, when we started chemo, I had serious side effects. It started the first day of Chemo. I go to my chair (which is the chair I used every day from then on because I really got attached to my drip pole... I named it George), we get me all set up, all the Meds are stacked beside me, we open my shirt to use my newly installed port for the first time and... Oh Crap! I am covered in a rash. The doctor rushes in, the nurses are all standing around, I am still groggy from the xanax I took to get through this. Turns out I am allergic to Betadine. Yep... the port surgery I had the day before caused the rash.
I had all the usual side effects of the chemo, plus the extra ones from the nausea medicines. I drink so much water my kidneys hurt and I pee so much that I can tell you how many tiles are in the stall at work. I had constipation... which I have never experienced before, and that was a whole other bit of excitement for me. Then my skin started peeling. I looked like I had some strange melting disorder. We switched soaps. Nothing changed. I sent out a cry for help and lucky for me, my friend Holly works for a company that makes paraben free products and sent me a box. Oh thank God for my friends! I had been putting hydro-cortisone all over my face, and when I told my doctor that she was not really happy with me. Apparently, I can't use that any longer because it might aggravate the cancer.
So the first round of Chemo is over with and we go to the second set. Taxol and Herceptin. I was all worried about the vomiting and the doctor assured me there is little nausea associated with these two, and that things should get easier for me from here on. Silly me... I should have looked at the side effects list for these two just a little closer.
I do my first round and I feel great! Oh Joy! My life might just get back to normal! I was so excited the day after chemo and the day after that. Friday rolls around and I am certain that I am dying. I have never felt this kind of pain before in my life. Ever had a shin splint? Or a really vicious charley horse? Okay... now imagine that your entire lower body is doing that nonstop for two days.
I am sure I have mentioned it, but since I got out of my teens, I really have no use for drugs. But I called the doctors office and BEGGGGGGGGEDDD for pain medication. My doctor wasn't there, but my favorite nurses were and they had the other doctor call in some good drugs for me. But what that meant was the taxol treatment that was already an all day affair would now get longer because now, to stop the pain (which is apparently only happens in 2% of the cases... 2%...am I the lucky gal or what?) we will be adding steroids to the mix, along with the benadryl, taxol and herceptin.
Then... I start to lose the feeling in my toes and fingers. Again... not a side effect that everyone gets. I start dreaming that I have grown extra toes. They give me gabapentin, which they give to diabetics to stop neuropathy. My little medicine box is no longer a shoe box, but a boot box. I am taking so many pills I lose my appetite. I have lost more weight in the past four months than I have in years of watching my weight. Remember the constipation from the first round? Well... that came to a screeching halt. I actually had to come home and change my pants a couple of times. Thank goodness we live right down the road from my job.
Now for my favorite part... Menopause. Yep... apparently all these drugs and toxins sent me careening into menopause at record speed. My hot flashes were so bad we didn't use the heat at night. I started crying at commercials on Hulu. I became absolutely convinced that I was going to lose my job because I was acting crazy. Guess what... another medication...
My last round of Taxol was Feb 7th. I have had a brief break from all of the above and thinking back over it, I really hope it was all worth it. We are coming up to my surgery date, and thats when we find out how successful all this was. I have a lot of thoughts about that, but I will herd those cats later.
You know how you read the side of the cold medicine box and it says "May cause drowsiness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations and in rare instances you may sprout an extra head." Guarantee you, if I take that medicine, I will be sporting not just the extra head, but another foot and an extra arm. So, when we started chemo, I had serious side effects. It started the first day of Chemo. I go to my chair (which is the chair I used every day from then on because I really got attached to my drip pole... I named it George), we get me all set up, all the Meds are stacked beside me, we open my shirt to use my newly installed port for the first time and... Oh Crap! I am covered in a rash. The doctor rushes in, the nurses are all standing around, I am still groggy from the xanax I took to get through this. Turns out I am allergic to Betadine. Yep... the port surgery I had the day before caused the rash.
I had all the usual side effects of the chemo, plus the extra ones from the nausea medicines. I drink so much water my kidneys hurt and I pee so much that I can tell you how many tiles are in the stall at work. I had constipation... which I have never experienced before, and that was a whole other bit of excitement for me. Then my skin started peeling. I looked like I had some strange melting disorder. We switched soaps. Nothing changed. I sent out a cry for help and lucky for me, my friend Holly works for a company that makes paraben free products and sent me a box. Oh thank God for my friends! I had been putting hydro-cortisone all over my face, and when I told my doctor that she was not really happy with me. Apparently, I can't use that any longer because it might aggravate the cancer.
So the first round of Chemo is over with and we go to the second set. Taxol and Herceptin. I was all worried about the vomiting and the doctor assured me there is little nausea associated with these two, and that things should get easier for me from here on. Silly me... I should have looked at the side effects list for these two just a little closer.
I am sure I have mentioned it, but since I got out of my teens, I really have no use for drugs. But I called the doctors office and BEGGGGGGGGEDDD for pain medication. My doctor wasn't there, but my favorite nurses were and they had the other doctor call in some good drugs for me. But what that meant was the taxol treatment that was already an all day affair would now get longer because now, to stop the pain (which is apparently only happens in 2% of the cases... 2%...am I the lucky gal or what?) we will be adding steroids to the mix, along with the benadryl, taxol and herceptin.
Then... I start to lose the feeling in my toes and fingers. Again... not a side effect that everyone gets. I start dreaming that I have grown extra toes. They give me gabapentin, which they give to diabetics to stop neuropathy. My little medicine box is no longer a shoe box, but a boot box. I am taking so many pills I lose my appetite. I have lost more weight in the past four months than I have in years of watching my weight. Remember the constipation from the first round? Well... that came to a screeching halt. I actually had to come home and change my pants a couple of times. Thank goodness we live right down the road from my job.
Now for my favorite part... Menopause. Yep... apparently all these drugs and toxins sent me careening into menopause at record speed. My hot flashes were so bad we didn't use the heat at night. I started crying at commercials on Hulu. I became absolutely convinced that I was going to lose my job because I was acting crazy. Guess what... another medication...
My last round of Taxol was Feb 7th. I have had a brief break from all of the above and thinking back over it, I really hope it was all worth it. We are coming up to my surgery date, and thats when we find out how successful all this was. I have a lot of thoughts about that, but I will herd those cats later.
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