Chemo appointment #5 out of 8 (yay! over half-way done!) was scheduled at 9:45AM this morning. My doc wanted me to have blood drawn and see her before I got started. My port of course wouldn't give blood (no matter how hard they tried) so they stuck me in the arm. Twice. No new bruises this time though, so that's good. And they finally got enough blood out of me to move on. I got weighed (I've lost ten pounds since chemo started and weighed in even lower today. Heck no, I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh! Are you crazy?? Okay. 120.) and blood pressure cuffed (a little high, but not horrible) and temp and all that. Then I waited to see the doc for awhile. I was in with her for less than ten minutes. Nothing new. I guess she just wants to ask me how I'm doing and check my breathing/pulse/etc. Then she told me to find a seat in the chemo room and she'd be back with the orders soon.
By the time the nurses hooked me up it was 11AM. They gave me new drugs today! No more AC. Now I'm getting Taxol. When I asked how long it would take, they said 3 hours. HA HA HA HA What they really meant was the TAXOL would take 3 hours. They're sneaky. Because before they can give you Taxol, they give you a bag of Steroids. Then they give you a bag of Benedryl. Then they gave me nausea meds. THEN they gave me the Taxol. Only on your first day of Taxol, they have to give you three drops and wait 30 mins to see if you have an allergic reaction before they can continue the drip. Needless to say, I got out of there at 4:15PM. It was a very long day.
Other than being tired (from the Benedryl) and a little tingling in my feet, I'm doing fine tonight. Except the benedryl wore off and ironically I can't sleep! It's 2AM. eek
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Good News and Bad News
The good news is that today I took my 4th dose of chemo so I'm halfway done. Not only that but this was the last dose of two drugs; A and C. I couldn't spell 'em if I wanted to, so I won't, but they start with A and C. The next four doses will be something called Taxol. Which means my side effects will change. I hear the nausea ends and the body aches start. So we'll see where that goes. Cross your fingers for me. :)
The bad news is that my port is acting up again. A port is a plastic device placed under your collar bone that they can stick to inject IV meds instead of using your arm. This is what the device looks like;
The round plastic dome is where the needle is inserted for meds/blood draw. The end of the tube is placed in a vein. I had mine put in when they gave me my mastectomy surgery. So when I go in to the onc's office (which you know is quite often) they stick my port to draw blood and give me chemo. First they "flush it out" with saline to clear any clots. Then they draw blood. Afteward they put a drug in there called "hepenefrin" (at least that's what it sounds like) to keep it clot free or something, I dunno. They're not sticking me three times - they stick me once and this needle with a tube hangs there. Then they simply put different attachements on the end of the needle's tube to do these things.
Regardless, when you go in twice a week, they end up sticking this thing quite often. The doc gave me a script for a numbing cream which I apply an hour prior to going. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Who knows. Anyway at first the port wouldn't draw blood. They could get stuff into the vein, but not out of the vein. It wasn't working correctly. Then after visit 10 or so, it started giving blood. Yay!! Here's what my port looks like from the outside;
The scar is where they inserted the device during surgery. The holes are where they've stuck the needle in the plastic dome underneath the skin. Isn't that cool? Trust me, it beats the heck out of having your arm stuck over and over. Especially if it works. However mine is giving them problems again. They said the tube may be resting against something that's blocking the blood flow so once again the blood draws wouldn't work no matter how many times they moved the needle around. So they had to go through my arm three times today. Once for blood draw and another two times to find an adequate blood draw for my chemo meds. If they can't see blood coming out, then they can't inject the AC 'cause they're not sure it's going into the vein. So here's what my arm looks like today:
LOL I mean c'mon. You've gotta laugh, right? The bruises are caused when they move the needle around inside the skin in order to find the vein. Some of you noticed that brown one on the lower right a few weeks ago when it was really large and black. I got a lot of "WHAT'S THAT FROM!?" The one on the upper left is from last week. The blue ones are from today. Okay anyway, it's not a pity party - I just thought it was interesting. I've learned a lot about drawing blood and the needles and how it all works. It's quite interesting. Although I could NEVER do it myself. I'd faint dead away I think! Although I do watch 'em put 'em in there so I know when the stick is coming. Ouch. But it's over quickly. Unless they have to move the needle all over the place. *sigh* Okay yeah, feel sorry for me. Go ahead.
So now I have to have my port looked at to see what the problem is. This worries me. I'm not sure how exactly they do that and I'm terrified they're going to open the scar and start moving stuff around and if they do I'm going to FREAK OUT. I'm definately going to ask for some HEAVY HEAVY DRUGS before they go fishing around in there if that's what they do. I hear ports often have scar tissue that grows around them and they can be very painful to remove.
So yeah. That's the bad news.
The bad news is that my port is acting up again. A port is a plastic device placed under your collar bone that they can stick to inject IV meds instead of using your arm. This is what the device looks like;
The round plastic dome is where the needle is inserted for meds/blood draw. The end of the tube is placed in a vein. I had mine put in when they gave me my mastectomy surgery. So when I go in to the onc's office (which you know is quite often) they stick my port to draw blood and give me chemo. First they "flush it out" with saline to clear any clots. Then they draw blood. Afteward they put a drug in there called "hepenefrin" (at least that's what it sounds like) to keep it clot free or something, I dunno. They're not sticking me three times - they stick me once and this needle with a tube hangs there. Then they simply put different attachements on the end of the needle's tube to do these things.
Regardless, when you go in twice a week, they end up sticking this thing quite often. The doc gave me a script for a numbing cream which I apply an hour prior to going. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Who knows. Anyway at first the port wouldn't draw blood. They could get stuff into the vein, but not out of the vein. It wasn't working correctly. Then after visit 10 or so, it started giving blood. Yay!! Here's what my port looks like from the outside;
The scar is where they inserted the device during surgery. The holes are where they've stuck the needle in the plastic dome underneath the skin. Isn't that cool? Trust me, it beats the heck out of having your arm stuck over and over. Especially if it works. However mine is giving them problems again. They said the tube may be resting against something that's blocking the blood flow so once again the blood draws wouldn't work no matter how many times they moved the needle around. So they had to go through my arm three times today. Once for blood draw and another two times to find an adequate blood draw for my chemo meds. If they can't see blood coming out, then they can't inject the AC 'cause they're not sure it's going into the vein. So here's what my arm looks like today:
LOL I mean c'mon. You've gotta laugh, right? The bruises are caused when they move the needle around inside the skin in order to find the vein. Some of you noticed that brown one on the lower right a few weeks ago when it was really large and black. I got a lot of "WHAT'S THAT FROM!?" The one on the upper left is from last week. The blue ones are from today. Okay anyway, it's not a pity party - I just thought it was interesting. I've learned a lot about drawing blood and the needles and how it all works. It's quite interesting. Although I could NEVER do it myself. I'd faint dead away I think! Although I do watch 'em put 'em in there so I know when the stick is coming. Ouch. But it's over quickly. Unless they have to move the needle all over the place. *sigh* Okay yeah, feel sorry for me. Go ahead.
So now I have to have my port looked at to see what the problem is. This worries me. I'm not sure how exactly they do that and I'm terrified they're going to open the scar and start moving stuff around and if they do I'm going to FREAK OUT. I'm definately going to ask for some HEAVY HEAVY DRUGS before they go fishing around in there if that's what they do. I hear ports often have scar tissue that grows around them and they can be very painful to remove.
So yeah. That's the bad news.
Friday, November 2, 2007
So.... what's a "good day" again?
Funny how the more I get embroiled in this stuff that my blog posts become fewer and fewer, eh? I'm sorry about that. I think it's because right now there's no new news and I don't want to sound like a broken record so I don't post as much. But again, some of you have reminded me that it's been awhile since my last post and you want to know how I'm doing so here I am again.
When I began chemo I was under the impression that I would have a "bad week" and a "good week." Next Tuesday will be treatment #4 (out of 8) and I find myself desperately seeking a good "day" let alone a good whole "week." The side effects are still going strong. Mouth sores have now advanced to aching jaw and sometimes throbbing teeth. Last night I was lying in bed and my lower teeth were literally throbbing. It was quite strange. I bought a rinse for the mouth sores and use it from time to time but wow, it's some nasty stuff so most of the time I just deal with the sores. A new side effect that I'm kind of scared to mention but I'll do it anyway, is bloody stools. Yippee for TMI! But yeah. So that's kind of alarming. Right now, I have the shakes, I get very cold easily, I cry at the drop of a hat, and I tire easily. I went to the store today, carried the groceries in, sat down and my heart was beating so fast you'd have thought I'd run a marathon!
You may remember that I visit a message board called the "Young Survivor's Coalition" which is made up of women under the age of 40 who have bc. There is a small group of ten of us that all started chemo in September and we call ourselves the "September Sirens." We keep in constant contact on the message board since we're all going through the same things at the same time and we're all young. One of us is only 23 years old. One of us is getting married this month. One of us has three kids. But we're all going through the same things and we're all having basically the same exact side effects. We all have mouth sores. We're all sick of being bald and feeling "ugly." We've all been having emotional breakdowns this week. We're all tired of chemo and look forward to the last treatment. Those of us who are married with kids talk about how tired our husbands are getting.
I don't go out too much these days but prefer to stay in and either read or do my crosstitch. I just don't have very much gumption to go out. The week of chemo I often sleep a lot. Jim's been taking care of Erik almost around the clock. The few days preceeding chemo when I feel my best I try to take over Erik's care so Jim can have a break. I'm sure Erik's feeling the strain of things too. He doesn't really know what's going on but I think he knows when mom is sick and when dad is tired. Surprisingly he's been a pretty good boy this week. He seems to be a better listener and the "no's" are decreasing. It's almost as if he knows we're at our wits end and he wants to do his part.
Anyway, this too shall pass. Chemo treatment #5 will be a totally different drug and the side effects will subsequently change. I hear the nausea won't be as bad and I'm excited about that. Hopefully my energy levels will increase. Until then, I'm just kinda hangin' in there.
When I began chemo I was under the impression that I would have a "bad week" and a "good week." Next Tuesday will be treatment #4 (out of 8) and I find myself desperately seeking a good "day" let alone a good whole "week." The side effects are still going strong. Mouth sores have now advanced to aching jaw and sometimes throbbing teeth. Last night I was lying in bed and my lower teeth were literally throbbing. It was quite strange. I bought a rinse for the mouth sores and use it from time to time but wow, it's some nasty stuff so most of the time I just deal with the sores. A new side effect that I'm kind of scared to mention but I'll do it anyway, is bloody stools. Yippee for TMI! But yeah. So that's kind of alarming. Right now, I have the shakes, I get very cold easily, I cry at the drop of a hat, and I tire easily. I went to the store today, carried the groceries in, sat down and my heart was beating so fast you'd have thought I'd run a marathon!
You may remember that I visit a message board called the "Young Survivor's Coalition" which is made up of women under the age of 40 who have bc. There is a small group of ten of us that all started chemo in September and we call ourselves the "September Sirens." We keep in constant contact on the message board since we're all going through the same things at the same time and we're all young. One of us is only 23 years old. One of us is getting married this month. One of us has three kids. But we're all going through the same things and we're all having basically the same exact side effects. We all have mouth sores. We're all sick of being bald and feeling "ugly." We've all been having emotional breakdowns this week. We're all tired of chemo and look forward to the last treatment. Those of us who are married with kids talk about how tired our husbands are getting.
I don't go out too much these days but prefer to stay in and either read or do my crosstitch. I just don't have very much gumption to go out. The week of chemo I often sleep a lot. Jim's been taking care of Erik almost around the clock. The few days preceeding chemo when I feel my best I try to take over Erik's care so Jim can have a break. I'm sure Erik's feeling the strain of things too. He doesn't really know what's going on but I think he knows when mom is sick and when dad is tired. Surprisingly he's been a pretty good boy this week. He seems to be a better listener and the "no's" are decreasing. It's almost as if he knows we're at our wits end and he wants to do his part.
Anyway, this too shall pass. Chemo treatment #5 will be a totally different drug and the side effects will subsequently change. I hear the nausea won't be as bad and I'm excited about that. Hopefully my energy levels will increase. Until then, I'm just kinda hangin' in there.
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