First Chemo!

So everyone is asking me how I'm doing since my first chemo treatment and the answer is so far so good! My chemo was Wed and after an hour wait in the waiting room and an argument over co-pays, we finally got in to see the doc. Well, actually the docs assistant because he was out last week. She prescribed me two anti-nausea drugs, Compazine to try first and if after I take that and if I'm still sick, to take Zofran.
Then I walked to the back and picked a recliner to sit in. A nurse came over, accessed my port by sticking a tack looking needle in it and proceeded to give me an IV of saline and premeds including a heavy dose of Zofran. West sat with me and held my hand as they did the needle and premeds but I was disappointed when they told me he couldn't stay for the two hours because it was a HIPPA voilation :( but he was allowed to check on me as often as he wanted so he went back and forth from the lobby.
The first drug they gave me, they told me straight out they call it the Red Devil. It's actually called Adriamycin but its known as the red devil because it causes all the side effects: hair loss, vomiting, fatigue, and general crappy feeling. That lasted about 45 minutes in an IV drip and then they gave me something called Cytoxin which lasted another 45 minutes. According to Livestrong.com:
Adriamycin is an anti-tumor drug that attacks the part of a cancer cell responsible for synthesizing RNA and DNA, according to Chemocare.com. Cytoxan is an alkylating agent, and as such works by breaking DNA strands while the cancer cell is in its resting phase before cell division, according to the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing.
I felt nothing different during the infusions...and after it was over West and I went to Subway and I ate an entire meatball sandwich lol I hung out the rest of the afternoon with Momo because I was afraid of being alone and violently throwing up but I felt fine Wed night, felt fine Thursday and now today, today I felt just ok. I woke up fine but West helped me take a shower and after the shower, ugh it felt like I ran a marathon and I slept for two hours after. The rest of the day today I just watched West play video games, settled in front of the TV and just took it easy but I can't say the tiredness is any different than the way I felt during radiation nights...
Tomorrow will be the test. My Aunt went through chemo for ovarian cancer and the third day was the worst for her, thats when it really hit her, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow!

Last day of radiation!!

So just a quick note today. Today is my last radiation treatment! I would be more excited but I've been kinda feeling like crap yesterday and today. Today is not so bad, did take a lot to get out of bed this morning and even more to choke down oatmeal but I have to remind myself that I should be thankful I can get put of bed, that I can make myself breakfast.. As there are many worse off than myself!
So as much as I can, I'm going to celebrate my completion of radiation and look forward to my sore throat healing and the fatigue going away. My radiation tech said that radiation works in your body two weeks after the last treatment so it could be awhile until my throat feels normal.
Now my celebration is short lived because tomorrow at 930 is my first chemo dose. I'll go in and spend 15 min with the doc and doing bloodwork to make sure my white count is healthy enough, then they will give me about a half an hour of iv premeds for nausea etc and then it's two hours of the actual chemo. West is being a trooper and sitting with me and then when he goes to work I'm going to hang out with momo bc I'm just not sure what the chemo is going to do so I didn't want to be alone. All in all the chemo should last 3 hours so I should be home by 1.
In other news I saw dr lee yesterday who said my wound on my neck is healing slowly but should start to close after radiation. He also said I've got 6 more weeks in the god awful brace and that's if the radiation didn't slow down the healing but he doesn't want to do X-rays for a few more weeks. I go back and see him on the 23rd.
In other news I don't think I mentioned in any of my posts that I've lost 37lbs with all of this. Now trust me I had the pounds to lose but I don't recommend doing it in this fashion. The problem is, between my sore throat and all of my meds/radiation upsetting my stomach, I have zero appetite. I've been taking nausea meds but they just settle your stomach, they don't make you hungry. I'm drinking ensure, taking a multivitamin and trying to choke down breakfast at least so I can take my meds but if anyone has any ideas to stimulate appetite I'd like to hear them. I feel like I have the stomach flu and the sight of food makes me want to throw up...
Well off to my final radiation! I hope the side effects this afternoon are better than yesterday bc yesterday I came home and pretty much napped from 3pm on...

Radiation, Bactrim, Tamoxifen and incisions don't mix.

So I haven't posted in awhile which makes everyone worry lol so I'll post an update :) I haven't been posting because well, the radiation is actually making me lazy. I'm not going to say tired because its not a nodding off need a nap tired its a OMG I have to find my laptop, plug it in, sit in the office, find a pillow for the chair and then attempt to type - oh hell no do I feel like getting out of this chair feeling :)
I have 4 treatments left. Thu/Fri/Mon/Tue. They were going to do 15 but after seeing Dr. Nyamuswa (chemo) last Wednesday, he spoke with Dr. Dean (radiation) and decided the important thing was getting me to chemo ASAP and 12 treatments would do.
Thank goodness because I have a wicked sore throat. They told me I'd get one but man its worse than strep. You never know how much saliva your mouth produces until you can't swallow! My teeth are sensitive too. At night my eyes burn like allergies and my skin gets super hot. I've been sleeping with a refrigerated ice pack on my forehead and eyes (or at least falling asleep that way) which does help. If this is the worse of it, well I'll take it. It can always be worse!
The other thing thats not helping is I'm back on Bactrim (antibiotic). Last Tuesday West noticed the incision on the back of my neck was starting to open up. Wednesday at my chemo appointment the doctor put me on Bactrim to prevent infection and the stuff is hard on your stomach and gives you a nasty taste in your mouth. My appetite has decreased a lot since I've been on it so its kinda like being sick to your stomach, hot, and have a sore throat all at the same time. Thank goodness today is my last dose! I missed radiation on Friday because they didn't want to radiate an open wound so I went to see Dr. Lee (surgeon) on Monday who said to treat it with a wet/dry dressing and continue radiation, eventhough radiation was the cause of the wound breaking open. He insisted that most important thing was getting to chemo which means getting through radiation ASAP and said he doesn't mind wound care just don't skip radiation, even if it makes the wound worse.
Speaking of my appointment last Wed, Dr. Nyamuswa set me up with a treatment plan. They took a CBC to check my white blood cell count and flushed my port. Did I mention in all the madness I had a port surgically inserted underneath the skin of my right arm? Theres more info on what a port is here: http://powerportadvantage.com/about.html but basically instead of having to poke you with a needle every time they need to take blood or admin chemo, they use whats called a port. Its a plastic implant that is hooked to a catheter that leads into the major vein near my heart. When they need to draw blood or give me something through IV they stick a needle into the port and its instant access. It came in really handy in the hospitals because I didn't (usually) need to get stuck for lab work and it made admin morphine really quick! Anyway, for some reason at the docs office my port would take meds but wouldnt release blood for blood work so they had to do it the old fashioned way. The nurse said sometimes that just happens and the next time they try it could work perfect- that its real positional. My CBC came back really good, or at least thats what the doc said. Not sure if thats really good for a cancer patient or really good for a healthy patient but if he's pleased, I'm pleased.
The doc said we can't start chemo during radiation, that with me healing from spinal surgery, it would just be too much on the bone marrow so we have to wait. In the meantime he put me on Tamoxifen, a drug that stops estrogen production which is the chemical that is feeding my cancer. It mimics menopause so I'm having heat flashes, mood swings, sick to my stomach, sore throat, hot skin, an incision that won't heal..all at the same time. Yuck! Again, though...if this is the worse of radiation, I can handle this...this isn't so bad. I start chemo next week. Next Wed at 9:30 if I remember right. They said it will be about a 3 hour process, an hour for blood tests and premeds and 2 hours to administer the chemo. I can't remember the names of the chemo drugs right now but its pretty strong stuff. Its the hard hitting make you lose your hair and feel crappy kind but if it kills cancer, I'm on board. I'll do that every three weeks for 4 treatments and then they'll assess how that's working and then go into a weekly chemo regimen with a drug that's not as strong.
So, all in all I'm hanging in there. The mornings are good. The evenings, around 7 and later are the I'm tired and started to feel crappy times but I'm pushing through and am looking forward to being done with this radiation!