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.
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