Time To Party With The Devil

After 3 very long weeks the results from the HER2 test finally came back. It's negative! A dance of joy was done. Why all the hoopla you ask? Having a negative result means that I will only endure 20 weeks of chemotherapy instead of a year. At this point I'm finding joy in the little things.

The chemotherapy plan is relatively quite simple. For the first 8 weeks I will be infusing Adviamycin and Cytoxau (A and C) every two weeks for a total of four doses. Then for the remaining 12 weeks I will infuse weekly Taxol (T). The A and C have been known to put stress on the heart, so that is why I had an echo of my heart done. A and C are also known to cause nausea, fatigue and low blood counts, so I will be pumped full of steroids and heavy-duty anti-nausea meds that will last about 2 days in my system. I have also been given a selection of anti-nausea meds to have at home. The T is the lesser of the evils. When I start the T portion, I will be infusing a lesser amount, so I will I have less side effects. Some people have been known to develop neuropathy while infusing T, but if it happens it is temporary, and the number of weeks to infuse T will be reduced. It is all a calculated dance.

The oncologist wanted to get the party started as quickly as possible. I was given the news of being HER2 negative on a Tuesday and started chemo that Friday. In a way it was a good thing. No time to over think, only time to start the party. The only drawback was I only had two days to get my "chemo bag" ready. The A and C infusions take a minimum of 3 hours from start to finish, so having stuff to keep you entertained and snacks are important. Hard candies are essential to pack as well. Some of the pre-meds can create a nasty taste in your mouth, so having some caramel candies definitely help. Some people pack blankets and socks, but the nurse told me that they have blankets there that they warm, so I left those at home. I ended up bringing my laptop, my tablet, earbuds, snacks, crackers, caramels, lip balm and tissue. Oh, and my large travel cup filled with iced tea. Gotta stay hydrated!

The hubs had hoped to go with me for my first treatment, but due to COVID the treatment center isn't allowing guests to come with. As my time for my appointment got closer my nerves started getting out of control. By the time I arrived my blood pressure was sky high, and it took everything that I had to remember to breathe. The staff at the infusion center were great through it all. I was able to get a semi-private room that I only had to share for about 20 minutes. The nurses made sure to explain everything, so I was super comfortable with what was going on.

This was the first time that my port was used. The site was a bit tender since it was still healing. If you get a port, make sure they prescribe you numbing cream to use before they access it. You don't need much, and you rub it on about 30 minutes before. Add a bit of ice about 5 minutes before and you won't feel a thing but a tiny prick. I was so glad that I had a port after the infusion was over. It made everything so easy. 

As my infusion was wrapping up the nurse brought in a little "treat" for me to wear home. It was a Neulasta Onpro. You might have seen commercials for it. What it is, is a small wearable injection device to boost your white blood cells. It is slightly bigger than one of those pods you can use to wash your clothes or dishes. It has an adhesive to stick to the back of your arm, and after about a 1 minute of being placed on your arm, a tiny needle is injected into you. It feels like someone has just snapped a rubber band on you when it is released. Approximately 27 hours after it was applied the device will start to administer the medication. It takes about 45 minutes for it to be absorbed into your system. The nurse gave me a booklet explaining the medication, as well as a note as to when I could take the device off. Now because it is placed on the back of my arm, I needed some help getting it off. Other than that, it worked like a charm.

The evening of my first round of chemo was relatively normal. We went and had Mexican food for dinner, since I was told that spicy food wouldn't be my friend very soon. The only negative is I was still waiting for one of my medications to arrive, an anti-anxiety med that would help me sleep with all the steroids in my system. Unfortunately, the pharmacy failed me and did not deliver the meds before they closed. I ended up being awake until 3am. Ugh!! I can at least say that I read a good book, or two. The meds finally arrived Saturday. I took a pill once it arrived and had a good long nap. I felt well enough on Saturday to join the family for dinner out, and even ate a good amount of food. Sunday I was starting to feel the steroids wear off, but I managed to get out and see friends for a BBQ. Then Monday arrived and I was spent! I spent the day holding the couch down. Reading, watching mindless TV and napping. The nausea started to kick into high gear as well. Thank goodness for anti-nausea medicine! Nothing sounded appetizing, but I was able to eat and keep it down. That is all that mattered. 

The rest of the week the nausea came and went. The nurses said that at the first sign of feeing nauseous, to take a pill, so that's what I did. Staying on top of it was key so I could continue to eat, even if it didn't taste like it should. As the week went by my level of heartburn increased to insane levels. I already take medication for acid reflux, so it was pushed to the limits. It was odd what would flame the heartburn. There was one day where oatmeal and a glass of water sent me over the edge. That is when I call the doctor's office and was given an additional medication to help. It has helped tremendously! The one thing that I will keep saying is you must advocate for yourself! If you don't speak up, the doctors and team will not know if something isn't working. Make friends with the people that work at the front desk and answer the phone. If you are nice to them, they will be nice to you and make sure that you are taken care of. 

Before I knew it, it was time to prepare for round two. Two days before my scheduled chemo infusion I had to go in for some blood test. This was my first time using my port for a blood draw. I was so impressed with how fast it went! What was equally impressive is that the results were back by that afternoon. My white blood cells looked great (thanks Onpro!), but my red blood cells dropped quite a bit. I'm now trying to increase my iron intake and we will monitor the numbers. Hopefully it will plateau. Fingers crossed!

Going in for my second does was a whole lot easier. My blood pressure was normalish and everything went well. My appetite was back that night thanks to the steroids, and I took full advantage of it. Having all my medication was a big plus too. About a half hour before bed I popped one of my anti-anxiety meds and was able to sleep for about 5 hours. It wasn't all night, but way better than the time before. 

And now the cycle starts all over again....