​Let’s Go Round Again

Starting IV chemo again was the last thing that I wanted to have to do. I had hoped that I was on my way to a normal life, but my body had other ideas. Once the tumor on my lung was found everything started moving at warp speed. Every week was a different procedure. By the time I started chemo my body was run down and not loving life. The ablation surgery left me in an extreme amount of pain. I knew that the surgery would take time for the pain to ease, but my body was taking its sweet time cooperating.
 
A week after the ablation surgery I started chemo. I was also on a steady dose of oxycodone to kill the back pain. To say that I was a hot mess is an understatement. Since I was on oxy my mom drove me to my appointment and the hubs picked me up. The procedure was uneventful. They pumped me full of steroids, anti-nausea medications and fluids and then added the Carboplatin/Gemzar chemo into the mix. From start to finish it only took about an hour and 15 minutes to complete.
 
Thanks to the steroids that they add to the chemo mix, it takes a day or so for the side effects of the chemo to kick in. Now, the first time around when the side effects kicked in, they did so with vengeance. Between the amount of back pain that I was in and the side effects of the chemo, eating was not at the top of my list. Over the last month I ended up losing 15 pounds. Now, yes, I had 15 pounds to lose, but this was not the way to do it. At the worst time after chemo, I was a shade of grey that you should never be, and honestly thought I was close to death. Thankfully the latter was not true.
 
The next week I was supposed to do another round of chemo, but I was dreading it. I went in and had blood work done beforehand to make sure my body could handle it. When the office called to see how I was feeling and to go over my numbers I was in tears. I was still feeling the side effects of the first dose of chemo. I could barely eat, and I wasn’t able to get enough fluid into my body. It was decided that I would postpone the round of chemo that was scheduled and get IV fluids instead. The day I went in for fluids, I also met with the nurse that works with my doctor since my doctor was on vacation. She was very ambitious and ended up rubbing me and my mom the wrong way. She was adamant about keeping me on my chemo schedule and wanted me to come in the next day. I said no, my body could not handle it. I then went and got pumped full of fluids and went home. The nurse then called that evening hoping I would change my mind about chemo. Hahaha, nope. Did the fluids help? Yes. Am I ready to put my body through hell again? Nope. I need time to recover and find my soul again.
 
That week off is just what I needed. I was able to recharge my body and get in the amount of fluids that it needs. I was also able to ween myself off of all the painkillers I was on. I still take some Aleve to help kill the aches and pains so I can sleep. Without the massive amount of pain that I was in, I was able to eat a bit more and start to feel energized, kind of. I tried to keep the next round of chemo out of my mind. When I thought about it, my anxiety would start to flare, and I didn’t need that.
 
The day of my second round of chemo finally arrived. To say that I was anxious is an understatement. Thankfully I have a little pill that helps with that. The infusion nurse gave me the good news that they reduced my dose slightly, so hopefully it will not be as horrible as the first time around. If I had the energy, I would have done the dance of joy around the infusion room. The chemo infusion went off without a hitch. The next few days were low key. Thankfully I didn’t not have the insane side-effects like the first round, but I did still have some nausea that I had to use my anti-nausea pills for. At least I felt way better than the time before.
 
The way the chemo is scheduled is I’m supposed to do chemo two Mondays in a row, and then have a week off. Well, my start went round 1, week off, round 2, week off. During my second week off I did a video call with my doc. We went over everything that happened. She adjusted the amount of chemo to match my new weight. That should help with the side effects a lot. I then asked if there was anything that could help with my appetite. There was! She then prescribed me a pill that would help with sleep, mood, and appetite. I will take whatever help I can get. Then we talked about my red blood cells. The last four weeks they have been hoovering right about the number where they would send me off to get a blood transfusion. She really wants to avoid that, as it comes with a list of complications. There is a shot available that will help raise my red blood cell count. Of course, it has its own list of complications, but it’s a lot shorter of a list. The major plus side of the shot is that it would help my energy level increase. After making a quick list of the pros and cons, I went with going with the shot. Getting a bit more energy is worth the cons. It was a good video call indeed.
 
This Monday was chemo day. Hopefully since it’s been reduced to match my new weight and I have all these other meds to hopefully counterbalance the side effects, everything will be smooth sailing. Keep your fingers crossed for me!