Had My Second Chemo Treatment ( 14 )

Had my 2nd Chemo treatment today. I started my day with 2 steroid tabs with breakfast in the morning before leaving for my infusion scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Once I arrived at the Cancer Center and got settled, there was just one little bump in the road when the chemo nurse was setting up the IV. She had a hard time finding a vein in my hand that would feed well. Frustrated, she asked for the assistance of another chemo nurse, and the other nurse got it right away. Things went smoothly after that. I was was first given nausea meds through my IV. Then I was given a pepsid tab and a benadryl tab chaser. Moving right along, The chemo nurse then gave me my drug #1 - Cytoxan. No problems there. When the drip finished about an hour later, I was given drug #2 Taxotere.

 Taxotere is the nasty drug. It can have very unpleasant side effects at the get-go for some patients. Luckily, I had no initial problems with it ... both the first time and during my second Chemo. For me though, it makes me absolutely exhausted hours later.  

Around noon, I drank some water and had a half of PB and J sandwich I had taken to the center with me. Also had some cheese & crackers courtesy of the center.  A short while later, the chemo nurse came and talked with me about any symptoms I had experienced after my first chemo treatment. She logged everything into the computer. She also looked at my fingernails and said they looked fine. Fingernails can sometimes turn very dark and even lift off.  The very though made me cringe. My wonderful hubby was with me the whole time. He is my rock.
For about 3 hours we watched TV together ... I would occasionally nod off. That benadryl can make a person a bit loopy. 

Also had another visit from the Clown Lady. Today she was decked out in Halloween attire. Black hat, wig, dress. She told us another joke. 
"What happens when a ghost gets too close to a fire? You get a toasty ghostie!" Cute.

Also got to speak to my oncologist.  I showed her the stubble on my head and we talked about after care. She said I would be going every 6 months for a mammogram for at least the first year, maybe two. My prognosis is very very good. 

Tomorrow I will take my last 4 steroid pills for this treatment session, and I also have an appointment tomorrow morning for my Neulasta shot.  I expect I will probably have the same after effects I had after my first Chemo treatment. By the third day I will start to take a nose dive and feel really lousy for a total of about 5 days. No appetite, exhausted, sleeping a lot, Bouts of diarrhea. Then by the the 6th day I will start to perk up and feel even better every day thereafter. By day 10 I expect I'll be rockin'! And I will want to eat everything in sight.

I can do this! 2 down and 2 to go!  Then Chemo will be DONE.  Yay!

Chemo Treatment #2 Coming Up & Dealing With My Almost Bald Head ( 13 )

Well, My second Chemo treatment is tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit anxious, but not like the first time. At least I have a better understanding of what happens now. 

As you can see, I've lost most of my hair. My chemo nurse at my last visit told me I would lose most of it by my 2nd visit. Those ladies know their stuff! It was easier for me having to deal with losing my hair because my husband has buzzed it twice so far. Once right before my first Chemo treatment and, again,  about 10 days later.

  It's still coming out. I find it on my head turbans and scarves all the time.

Being almost bald is not a "look" I would want permanently, but there are a lot of interesting results. I actually like to rub the top of my head against the grain of the hair stubble. It feels really weird.  In a good sort of way.

Another odd thing is the cool breeze factor. Whenever I walk down the short narrow hall from my bedroom to the kitchen/living room without a head cover or scarf, I feel this soft rush of cool air flow across my naked head. Feels sort of like gentle blast of air conditioning hitting me right in the noggin.

They probably would deny it, but ...  Bald men must have cold heads. At least in the late fall and winter. Since I've lost most of my hair, my head is cold. A lot. Recently, I bought some 100% cotton turbans.

 They are pull-on, very soft, and great for sleeping in. They  are also great for wearing around the house and also fit well under most winter hats.  And they make great perches for parakeets.

Well, tomorrow my 2nd Chemo Treatment is another big step in My Journey With Breast Cancer. I'm hoping it might be a little easier, but I'm prepared for whatever happens. 

Tonight, we had Chinese take-out for dinner. This was the fortune I took out of my fortune cookie. Very "apropos" don't you think?

My Body And Chemo ( 12 )

 I'm now into day 11 after my 1st Chemo treatment. I feel actually good. I have energy. I am not being diet conscious at all. If I am hungry, I eat ... whatever I want. Today I was out with my hubby and bought a bag of Milano cookies ... always a weakness of mine.  It wasn't this way 11 days ago. I felt ... like I was dying.

I am not going to candy coat it. Chemo is very hard on the body.  I learned that in the first 4-5 days after my chemo. 

I couldn't eat. Had a hard time just getting water down. Everything ... ached. All I wanted to do was ... sleep.  All day. I think I showered once during that time.

I took my nausea medication, Onadestrone, religiously every 8 hours. It helped tremendously. No vomiting, thank God.  I took extra strength Tylenol for body aches when I needed to.  Even my teeth ... hurt.

Then the diarrhea set in.  Maybe it was better than vomiting.  I don't know.  Imodium became my new best friend.  Then things began to change ....

Day 6 was a "D free" day.  I slept less.  I was actually a bit hungry.  I snacked on Ritz crackers topped with a bit of whipped cream cheeze quite often. I was drinking bottles of water. And things continued along on a positive path from then on.

Today, I went for my 10 day past Chemo blood work-up.  You could say, things are looking up.  And they are. But some things are inevitable  ...

My hair (which my hubby had buzzed down for me on October 3rd) ...  is starting to fall out now.

*** Note - Not going for a mani/pedi as I had briefly mentioned above. I deleted the comment.  Will not chance the risk of infection.  ***

I Bought Some Head Scarfs ( 7 )

It's the weekend - September 24/25 and I went to the Mall.  Knowing that in all probability I was going to lose my hair, I decided to go shopping to look for some head scarfs and hats. I had done a bit of browsing online the day before, but found most of the patterns kind of boring. I'm one of those people that prefer hands on.  I looked at all kinds of scarves ... different fabrics ... patterns.  For starters I bought the 3 above. I love anything to do with gardening ... so I bought one with flowers and one with Fall leaves.  And I had to buy one with cats. My husband and I have owned many cats over the years.  Adopted ones from shelters, one that a good friend couldn't keep, and we have even taken care of ferals. We are definitely Cat People.

The search for hats will continue. The bulk of winter hats won't really hit most stores until October. Since I am a HAT person, I have plenty of winter hats in the meantime to wear.

My Chemo treatments will start on Thursday, October 6th. I've decided to have my hairdresser buzz my hair down probably sometime this coming weekend, or beginning of next week. I have short hair to begin with, so cutting it even shorter doesn't really bother me. I want to be as pro-active in my journey as I can be. By my second Chemo treatment, more than likely, I will have lost all my hair anyway. Gives me a reason to wear the most outlandish hats I can find! I'll keep you posted on my CRAZY HAT PHASE.

**** Update - My hubby buzzed my hair on Monday, October 3rd. He did a great job!

From Bread & Water To REAL FOOD ( 11 )

Water and bread (sometimes, crackers) were all I could manage to force down for days following my first Chemo Treatment. 

The smell of food was .... awful.

All I felt like doing was sleeping.  When I wasn't, I would catch bits and pieces of TV shows.  If any kind of food was shown, I rolled over and gazed out the bedroom window instead.  

The days rolled by ... the 2nd, 3rd  ...  and then I began to notice I could tolerate chamomile tea with a bit of honey. Even a piece of toast with a bit of jelly. I also was able to drink water with a few drops of MIO in it. I began to roam a bit around the house and spent less time sleeping. 

Day 7 and 8 arrived before I even realized it.  I was able to eat scrambled eggs, a ham sandwich, and some fruit.  Especially watermelon. 

Now I'm up to day 11 and I can pretty much eat whatever I want now.

Still haven't attempted ... pizza.

Two Days After My First Chemo Treatment ( 10 )

Lake Wallenpaupack, PA

It's been 2 days since my 1st Chemo Treatment.  I felt better yesterday, but today I feel achy, tired, flushed, restless .... No nausea or headaches, thank God. 

A new symptom today though ... my hips and teeth hurt a bit. Not terrible. Probably from the Neulasta shot yesterday morning. 

My appetite is better than I expected. I had a shake this morning - Chocolate Slimfast - the one with 20% protein. I added a banana and some ice and made a smoothie out of it. Later went out with hubby to pick up a few things and stopped at Dunkin Donuts and had a wrap - small wrap with ham, egg, and cheeze. 

I've been drinking water, and plenty of it. Had a peanut butter & jelly sandwich about an hour ago.

I've had a bit of Chemo Brain today.  Forgetful, can't concentrate all that well. Kind of zoned out if you will. 

Today I'm just lazing around ....

My First Chemo Treatment, The Clown Lady, And A lovely Gift ( 9 )

I had my first Chemo treatment yesterday, October 6th. Was I anxious? Well, my blood pressure when it was first taken was 155/85.  You bet you could say I was anxious. A lot of yesterday was kind of a ... blur. 

My IV was put into a vein on the top of my right hand.  Great start. Got it right away. Then came the nausea med and then some Benedryl and 2 Steroid pills - can't remember the names. Then my first chemo drug CYTOXAN. (I looked up the name for you). No problems. The nurse told me the drug would run for a little over an hour. She covered me with some warm blankies and off she went, but came back frequently to check on me. She brought us water and crackers to snack on. My hubby, my rock, sat beside me in a chair and we watched TV, some old movies on TCM. 

Chemo drug number #2. Taxotere. (looked up that name, too.) My nurse told me this one could sometimes cause a reaction for some people. She placed a blood pressure cuff on me that regulated my pressure as the drug entered my bloodstream.  The drug was administered slowly at first. My nurse, what a sweetie, told me she would be staring at me for awhile to check my reactions.  She bumped up the speed on the IV, 3 times I think, until everything was deemed fine. This drug would also run for a little over an hour.

Things became a bit foggy after that. The Benedryl really kicked in and I dozed off for brief periods.  But I do vaguely remember the nice Clown Lady who came to visit me. She had on baggy colorful clothes and a multi-colored bushy wig. She asked me would I like to hear a joke?  Sure, Ok.  I don't really remember the joke ... something about money and a buck?!

I also had 2 other visitors - two very nice social workers bearing a gift from one of the Cancer Center's former patients. It was a pretty gift bag filled with assorted things like a scarf, colored pencils, coloring books, a journal, candy, hand lotion, and other things. The former patient (who wished to remain anonymous) requested that it be given to a new patient on the day of their first Chemo treatment. It happened to be me! I was so touched. Here is the little note that was in the bag.

When my Chemo was finished, I was handed my scripts for further bloodwork. My next Chemo appointment is October 27th. I also had an appointment to go and get a Neulasta shot the next day. It's recommended to help with possible infections that may occur after Chemo.

All in all, things went well. I have filled prescriptions for nausea pills as well as Steroid pills. 

Today, October 7th ... I feel pretty good.