Two weeks ago at my pre-chemotherapy doctor visit, my doctor offered to let me have a week off of treatment. He told me I have responded so well to the Taxol that one week off would not be a detriment to my overall treatment. At first I told him no, I'll keep going. However I realized the day after the next chemotherapy was our daughter's first high school prom. I really wanted to be able to be involved in that day. It takes all day to get ready!!
I called my doctor and spoke with the nurses about taking him up on that break. They felt I would be too sick and fatigued to really enjoy that it and encouraged me to take the it off. So I did.
What a great day it was! She got her hair done at a salon. She borrowed a shrug from her friend, Leslie. (Thanks Leslie) and then spent a few hours relaxing and playing with makeup ideas.
There were six couples in her prom group and they were all to meet at a friend's house for pre-prom festivities and photos. Of course, all the other parents were there too. It was very fun. The dresses were gorgeous and the girls all looked so elegant. The boys were very handsome. We must have all taken dozens of photos of the group and individual couples.
They left for dinner and then on to the prom. I have heard the dancing can be quite questionable and it was a concern for the whole group. They chose to stay on the outskirts of the large group and were able to escape the grinding.
After the dance they all went to one of the boy's homes and had pancakes. She was home by 12:30.
I'm so glad I didn't have to miss out. I was a big worn out from doing the running around but that's just fine. It was worth it.
This week is when it all starts over again.
Friday I start the FEC treatment and I have four of those three weeks apart. The last one on May 27th. FEC is the name of the 3 drugs I will be getting. The "F" is from 5-FU (such an appropriate name!). The "E" is epirubicin. This one can cause irreversible congestive heart failure so last week I had an echocardiogram to get a baseline. I already have moderate regurgitation in the mitral valve left over from the CHF I had 6 years ago....then had a baby. SO THERE! You can't get me, man. haha. The "C" is for Cytoxan. It's just plain nasty.
These drugs are MUCH different than what I have been getting. These drop my blood counts, cause nausea and if I don't pee every 2 hours for the first 72 hours cysts can develop in my bladder. I don't know what's worse the cancer or the treatment.
I also have to go back the next morning for a shot of neulasta. This drug boosts the white blood count and from what I have heard makes you feel like you have the flu.
There are many premeds involved that prevent nausea. The first is Emend. A pill I will take one hour before treatment then one a day for two days following. Plus they have given me two other prescriptions for anti-nausea drugs. Then there are a few more that are given through the port in my chest before the actual chemotherapy drugs are started.
I asked a fellow cancer patient who has already had these drugs, how the FEC nausea compares to pregnancy nausea. She said it's about the same. I only had nausea with one of our four kids. But is was ALL day EVERY day for the first trimester.
While the Taxol side effects will eventually go away, the new side effects will be different. I'm hoping the chemo brain fog will go away as well. I have a short attention span to begin with. It's why I hated school. But this is totally different. It's almost like having no short term memory. You can lose a train of thought mid-stream and truly not know how you got to another room in the house, or why you went there. I know as we get into our 40s this type of thing happens, and I have had it happen before the treatment...but there seems to be this dark fog that comes along with it that I didn't have before.
I'm blessed with friends who are Yellow (see The Color Code link), so conversations with them are a joy. They can jump from topic to topic mid sentence right along with me and never skip a beat. I love that. You know who you are...Sharon. Mary. My very Yellow friends.
Even though I am nervous about this next round, I know I am blessed with many prayers being said on my behalf. I couldn't get through this without them. On more than one occasion I have felt Heavenly Father boosting me up. The only way out is through it.
Keep the Faith.
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