Chemo Updates (2nd Treatment, days 1-5)

This treatment started much like the last, mostly uneventful. Tired and lots of heartburn. 


On Wednesday, I had my blood work done and then met with Dr. Kotz. He was pleased to see how well my counts rebounded and that my white count was even slightly high as a result of Neulasta doing its thing. We discussed whether or not I should move forward with the hysterectomy while undergoing chemo and it seemed like a consensus: no. Even though I rebounded well and handled the protocol well, why chance an infection post-surgery which could cause a greater set back for my treatment. I'll wait. Maybe until the summer, maybe the fall. It'll still be this year, but there is no real need to rush right now.


My infusion followed. The infusion center was incredibly busy all morning, but otherwise, it was uneventful.  I was tired even before I left this time. And I had the hiccups and heartburn again. Really not the greatest combination, as you can imagine.


Thursday I popped in for my Neulasta shot, then headed down to Dr. Weinberg's office for that follow up. I really can't seem to rave about her enough. Quite honestly, my entire team is awesome. I have a great sense of confidence in them and in my care plan. But there is something really unique about Dr. Weinberg. Anyway. She checked my port and my incisions, asked about my healing and how I was handling chemo. She said she's even learned from me; that she'd automatically break up cording for patients in the future when they presented with significant cording the way I had. She told me it took about 15 minutes to break it up, and that you could hear loud popping throughout the OR while she was doing it. And, even under sedation, I was crying out and calling out in pain as she worked through it.  So glad that happened while I was under anesthesia!  We talked about when I could get my port out and she said it was something she could do in the office. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, she agreed that removing it at the surgical pavilion was probably a better bet for me, especially since the tissues tend to bond to the port, so when they remove it, there's a lot of pulling and tearing.  Yeah, no thanks. Don't care to be awake for that either! As a final note, I explained my continuing dilemma over the order of radiation versus reconstruction to Dr. Weinberg. I'm not all that concerned about the cosmetic outcome (at least not right now, but she laughed and said I would care 4 years from now when the rest of this was history), but I am very concerned about wounds not healing and infections. Dr. Weinberg looked me right in the eyes and told me she was absolutely confident that we got all of that cancer. The rest of my nodes were clear and she got clear margins. She said "Go ahead and take those extra 4 weeks. Get your reconstruction done. We got that cancer." It felt so good to hear those words and hear how confident she is about it. Decision made!  I needed to hear that.


Since then, this treatment has progressed much like the last. I'm very tired. Exhausted, really. Only hints of tummy troubles this time, but lots of trouble with taste and managing to drink fluids. I'm running a low-grade fever again, and woke up this morning to a raw throat. I'm hoping it doesn't get worse, but I am keeping an eye on it. I'm going in for fluids tomorrow, as a precaution since I got so dehydrated last time. And the aches and pains, and dreaded bone pain, have set in.


Only 4 more to go!