Weekly Taxol Number 7 - 3rd Time is a Charm

How many times does it take to get an IV started?  Three.  Yep, 3 . . . and the first two hurt really badly!  I had this nurse, Christy, for my final AC and I had no issues with that IV.  I suspect my veins are protesting the weekly prodding, but they have not been poked for two weeks since I missed chemo last week.  She started on the side of my wrist, just below my thumb.  I have had the best luck with IV's on the back of my hand but she saw all the scars and thought my wrist might be better.  I did notice on my week off from chemo that the back of my hand was swollen so I didnt protest when she went for my wrist.  Things were going OK and I didnt really suspect there would be an issue.  There is always some pain when an IV is started and by this point I know what is a "normal" amount of pain and too much.  She started the IV and then it felt like the needle was stinging and while I think she was only just barely in, it felt like the needle was 4 inches long.  It was stinging so badly that I was wincing/whining and sitting straight up and on the edge of my seat and I'm sure that my face told the story of how much pain I was in.  She decided to try another spot.  I wasnt thrilled at the thought of being poked again, but it did hurt really bad and I couldnt stand it .  She then tried the vein on my forearm.  I told her before I had got bruising and my vein had leaked there (after my third AC and first couple of Taxol's).  She said she was good at getting the vein there so I gave her the go ahead.  Again, it hurt really badly, probably moreso than the wrist, but I think the forearm is a painful area for an IV in the first place.  She decided to have another nurse try cause she didnt want to hurt me again.  I reaffirmed that she had done it successfully before and I didnt really think it was her fault.  A few days later I had a bad bruise on my forearm (again).  All nurses are officially banned from using that vein.

She got me a heating pad and a warm towel to wrap my arm in - I guess warming the vein is a trick for making them pop out and be easier to get.  I also drank a bottle of water cause being well hydrated helps.  In hindsight I maybe should have drank more water that morning.  I did drink a lot, but the bottle I had did go down really easily so maybe I needed it.  Or maybe my veins were protesting cause they had a week off and wanted to have more time to recuperate.

I dont know if I mentioned it here, but all of my IV's have been on my left arm.  My tumor is on my right side and the Sentinel Node Biopsy (SNB) I had was on the right side.  If you have lymph nodes removed you are at risk for lymphadema, a condition where they lymphatic fluid does not drain properly.  Once you have it, it is a lifelong condition and you need to wear compression garments, etc. My surgeon told me that I am not really at risk cause I only had 3 nodes removed, but better safe than sorrry.  I have noticed that my left arm (non-SNB) has been swollen off and on though this and if that happened on my SNB side I would be worried that it is lymphadema.  Well, I dont want to risk it so I started out having all blood draws, blood pressure and chemo infusions on my non-SNB side.  About halfway though the weekly Taxol's I talked with my surgeon who said I am not at risk for lymphadema.  I did my own research and there is a risk, although much smaller than if I had had all lymph nodes removed (which was standard practice for years and many women still have all nodes removed today).  I decided that I would allow blood draws on my non-SNB side to give my poor left arm a break.  It is still very battered and abused but I think it will hold out for the 2 more chemo's I have left.

Anyway, the other nurse did get the IV started in the back of my hand.  I dont know what she did but somehow she managed to get blood all over my hand.  But at least the IV was in with the "normal" amount of pain.

The rest of the infusion went without issue although I did notice that my mood had changed.  You know how after you cry, you have that kindof exhausted, emotionally spent feeling.  Yeah, I had that.  I went home and parked it on the couch after that, even though I really wanted to go to Costco - something I have been able to do after previous chemo infusions.  I didnt feel bad, just unmotivated to do anything.

Two more chemos to go.  Anticipated PFC (Post Final Chemo, although there is another more colorful version) date is 11/7/12.

I will have my lumpectomy about 3 weeks to a month after that.  I have met with the surgeon and Plastic Surgeon.  Usually lumpectomies do not have any reconstruction, but the PS mentioned that I may have a dimple or divot.  She said that she can do what is called an oncoplastic reduction, basically a breast reduction after removing the cancer.  I am still mulling over if that is what I want.  It is a longer surgery, I would have both of them reduced to match, and if I were ever to get pregnant there is a chance that my "good" breast will not function either.  I cant decide if I would really care if there was a divot/dimple there.  I will have a giant scar and it will look the same with a bra on so I dont know if it is that important or not.  Oh and if I do have the reduction I need to have it done before radiation cause after radiation the skin does not heal as well and my doc wont do it.  So much to think about.  I dont have a surgery date yet, but I need to find out soon.

Chemo Cancelled this week due to my cold :-(

No chemo this week for me :-(  Last week I felt like a cold was starting and I was right - runny nose, sneezing, coughing, chest and nasal congestion, ugh.  I struggled all week with the symptoms and felt like I was getting better on Tuesday but then Wednesday (chemo day) morning I was coughing up a storm.  It was more of a dry cough and my whole body hurts from coughing so much.  Plus it was like 90degrees on Wednesday so the air conditioner was a must . . . but when the air conditioner would kick on I would start coughing although my morning coughing wasnt triggered by the air conditioner.

Since last week they gave me chemo even though I was sick I figured they would this week too, but nope my doc decided to give me antibiotics (augmentin - they are giant horse pills!!!) and have me come back next week.  She was irritated with me since I apparently wasnt answering her questions properly (I dont know what she wanted but I answered her questions).  It was freezing in the waiting room and that triggered some coughing.

Being rejected for chemo is a weird feeling - I mean who really wants to be injected with a poison?  But on the other hand I do want it to work to kill the cancer and I want to be done.  I really really want to be done.  I have been on this chemo roller coaster since May 16th, 2012 and it is an awfully long ride and I am really really REALLY ready to get off.  But no, I have another week added to it, sigh.  Estimated PFC (post final chemo) date is now November 7th!

On a positive note, the horse pill antibiotics seem to be working - my nose is just barely running and my cough is less, but still present.  I am also feeling like I have more energy - not that I am going to be running a marathon or anything, but I feel like I have energy to prepare food, make the bed and do a few things I need to do but kept pushing off cause I had no motivation.  And my tastebuds seem to be back . . . a few days ago everything tasted soapy or bitter or just plain yucky.  But now most things taste as I think they should, yippee.

Oh and I lost another fingernail, sigh.  Maybe I will be able to finish that post with my newfound energy.

Weekly Taxol number 6 - three more to go

A few days before Wednesdays infusion I started having a really stuffy nose.  My nose has been stuffy for awhile and my oncologist told me to use the saline nasal spray.  I had been using that and it was OK, but it seemed to be getting worse even though I was also taking Zyrtec.  Oh, and by the way I have no nose hairs, in case you were wondering.  But I do have a lot of bloody scabs/boogers that get stuck in my nose.  I think that is what is causing the stuffiness.  Yeah, isnt chemo pretty??  Well things seemed to be getting worse, especially at night.  I woke up a couple of times where I couldnt breathe cause my nose was so stuffy.  I also woke up several times because my throat was dry - I could breathe just fine through my mouth.  Well anyway it started to get worse, and was really bad during the day too.  And then my nose started to run.  I didnt have a fever - in fact my thermometers said my temps were in the 97.5 range.

I was worried if I should have chemo or not.  If you recall I got really sick after my first AC chemo and I didnt want to repeat that.  I sent an email to my doctor and the nurse called and said it should be fine as long as i dont have a fever even though I mentioned that I started to get a cough and felt like it is probably a cold and not allergies.  They always take my vitals - blood pressure and temperature when I first arrive.  Oh they do weight too, but that is a whole 'nother story.  My temperature was 98.something when I was in the chair.

I got my least favorite nurse again - the one that has left me bruised after each chemo.  I was too worried about me being sick to really panic about having her as my nurse.  She called my oncologist who confirmed that as long as I dont have a fever I should be OK. Turns out she used my wrist vein and didnt leave a bruise - yay!

Well, ever since chemo I have been blowing my nose regularly and occasionally coughing up a storm.  And I have to sleep propped up or it just gets worse.  The weather has went from hot to rainy and is headed back to hot . . . which I am sure is also compounding the issue.  I just hope the cough goes away soon because I also have a nasty taste in my mouth (common side effect of taxol) and the only way I have found to make it better is to eat frozen fruit bars after a meal and now they just make me cough afterwards (due to the cold).  Oh and I'm not sleeping well either . . . sorry to be such a debbie downer this post but it has been rough.

Oh yeah, my white  blood cells were up a bit, 3.9 (compared to 3.2 last week) but that is still below the normal range and the decadron(steroids) and chemo they gave me have lowered them further from there . . . no wonder I am struggling.  But if this is a cold, hopefully my immune system will kick it into high gear and the whites will be up again when I have them tested on Wednesday, but who knows.  I am being super careful and following the guidelines for preventing neutropenia cause one trip to the ER was more than enough for me.

Chemopause

Weekly Taxol Number 5

Taxol infusion number 5 went ok.  Being there every week is starting to get old.  This week I was given Chair Number 1, wohoo.  Not that there is anything special about it - it does have a window which was nice, but it is just about the same as all the other rooms.

See, I told you - it prettymuch looks like the other cell, I mean "room".

My counts have been steadily drifting downward :-(  My White Blood Cells (WBC's) were 8.4 after my first taxol and are going down every week, 5.8, 4.2, 3.9 and 3.2.  The Normal range is 4-11 so you can see the last two weeks my numbers have been below the "normal".  Low white cells are expected as chemo and the decadron (steroid I get before chemo to prevent allergic reactions) both are immunosupressive (big word for weakens the immune system).  I know the docs care more about the ANC, absolute neutrophil count which is calculated if you take the percent of neutrophils times the total white blood cells.  Before this infusion, my ANC was 1.6 (my neutrophils were 50% of my total WBC's so 50% of 3.2 is 1.6) which is on the low end, I am not sure what the cutoff is.  I have spent the week trying to take it easy and boost my immune system any way I can but I do have a little cough and my nose is very dry and stuffy.  I have been trying to eat well, rest, I even drank a little green tea, met a friend for lunch (boosted my spirits and made me feel normal for a bit) and after trying to do it for the longest time, I finally went for a walk.  It was a short walk, only 23 minutes but exercise helps the immune system so I plan on exercising regularly.  And I am making some chicken soup today :-)

And I lost another nail . . . I'm still working on a post about that.