Chemo (2 of 2)

So, in the last post (below), I was going to talk about a day in the life with a chemo patient so that you all could get a feel for what my weekends are like while on chemo. However, me being trained as a journalist, I can't help but give you the backstory first. I wrote about all the meds I am on and why. This post will talk about the actual chemo day and how it affects my family and me.


Yesterday, my appointment was at 8:45am. I took Morgan over to my sisters at 8am. Jack was going with Michael for a dentist appointment. Then my mom and dad met me at my sisters and mom goes to chemotherapy with me so that we can talk about Pass It On or writing stories.

When I get there, I check in and they weigh me. They take my blood pressure through my leg. This is because my left arm had lymph nodes taken out. If they do blood pressure through that arm, it could cause stress to the arm and make it swell. They take my temp and do my blood work. They access my port in my arm to get my blood counts. They send the vials to the lab and it comes back with a complete blood count(cbc).

If my white blood cell counts or red blood cell counts are outside normal parameters, then the oncologist will determine whether I can go ahead and do chemo. They might tweak my counts by giving my neupogen for white blood cell count increase. This would allow my WBC to increase at the same time that chemo is depleting my wbc. Crazy. There are also meds for red blood cell increase, but those can sometimes grow the cancer at the same time so the docs try not to use those.

Once I am cleared for chemo, the pharmacist can start to make my medicine. I first get Herceptin, which is my maintenance med. Then I get some meds for nausea, which makes me sleepy. Then I get abraxane. By the time I get abraxane, I am pretty sleepy. The drowsiness wears off and either my mom or I drive home.

When I get home, if Michael is not already at the treatment with me, he usually meets me at home so he can watch the kids because I am drowsy still. I usually go to sleep for a while, then I wake up in an altered state. Last night, I woke up at 7:30pm and thought it was morning. The drugs are so powerful, it is really hard not to be a little confused.

Besides hair loss, some of other long-term side effects are peripheral neuropathy(finger and toe tingles), flaky finger nails, excessive dry mouth or mouth sores due to lack of saliva. Nausea or diarrhea can be an immediate side effect. It really depends on the medicine. Like I have said before, chemotherapy is a term used for a lot of medicines...not just one medicine.

Usually, I sleep a lot over the weekend. Mornings are the hardest, then by midday or afternoon I feel better. If I think of anything else, I will let you know...but please ask questions.

Blessings,
Lolo