It's been so long since my last update - I'm such a slacker! Here's what's been going on...
Session #2 was rough. I was nauseated the whole ride home from Duke. The anti-nausea meds gave me a headache for the whole two weeks. The tingling in my hands and feet (neuropathy) lasted the whole two weeks, and so did the cold aversion. The cold aversion sucked the most, because I felt like I had to avoid food. I couldn't eat fresh fruits or veggies, which was what my body was craving to counteract all the toxins of the chemo. I avoided hydrating because I needed to warm up my water, and it tastes different when it's warm. It was the first time that I was absolutely miserable :(
So on my next visit to Duke, as I was telling my Nurse Practitioner about my side effects, she lovingly berated me for not contacting her earlier about what I'd gone through. Note to self, if I'm unhappy, I should tell my doctor immediately, and not wait for my next visit. We decided to stop treatment with the Oxaliplatin and just continue with the 5FU with the hopes that my side effects will decrease tremendously. And...they did! #3 wasn't bad. I had some nausea on Friday night (I get hooked up to chemo on Thursday) and on Saturday, which made me take a Zofran, and I got a headache, but by Sunday I was feeling great!
But then on Sunday, I noticed my feet starting to burn like they did last December. I started getting nervous because I was going to NYC the next weekend to visit my friend Kristin. Kristin has a gig with Deloitte Consulting in NYC and they put her up in corporate housing in Battery Park. Life is rough, huh? And how could I get around the city if I couldn't walk??? So I laid off my feet as much as possible, and the trip was still good, but less active. Just when I start to feel good, something else hits me that gets in the way of returning to normal. But it's just short term - gotta keep reminding myself of that.
The feet thing started to go away eventually - probably just detox from the Oxaliplatin And since the side effects got better, we decided to discontinue the Oxaliplatin completely, forever! That made me so happy as I didn't have to worry each time I was going to Duke about whether we would restart that.
So sitting here hooked up to chemo #7 - one more to go!!! Each treatment has gotten better in terms of side effects. I don't even take the nausea meds anymore. I have really, really mild nausea, but it's better than the headache from the Zofran, and the fatigue isn't bad at all. And the nurse comes in three hours to disconnect me from my pump. By tomorrow, I should feel normal again!
I've got one more treatment on 9/5, then I'm going to Santa Fe on 9/14-9/21 for a long overdue vacation. I have taken time off work throughout all of this, but the last time I didn't work for a week was my surgery in March, and that's not a vacation. The last real time off of work was Christmas (Paris was only three days off of work). Like I said, LONG overdue. I'm going with some family and we're going to check out this awesome spa in Ojo Caliente. It's got hot springs and mud baths, and I've never had a mud bath before! I'm hoping it will help detox my body from the chemo :)
Then I'll have another CT scan to ensure that cancer hasn't found a new home, which it hasn't, I'm sure :) I'll have scans every 3-6 months for the first two years, and then annually. I'm hoping to get my chest port removed after the first scan, but my doctors encourage me to wait until after my second scan. I want to get this thing out so badly, I'm not sure I can wait another three months. I just want to get back to my normal life. I want to go to the gym again, and get my ass handed to me by my trainer, and sweat, and be sore a little, and get back on a treadmill. I want to try to do a 5K next spring at Duke for colon cancer. Oh, and I NEED to start some yoga! I miss stretching, and I don't like doing it with this chest port. But I still have time to decide all of that...about a month actually. Oh and by the way, I'm 5 months cancer free :)
love to all!
Sarah
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