Chemo Changes

Last Wednesday I went in for my weekly herceptin. I whined to my nurses about the neuropathy I am experiencing in my hands and feet. I was nervous about my next chemo since the tingling and burning got significantly worse after my third infusion - and I still have three more to go.

The discomfort in my feet was so bad a week after my last chemo that I canceled a shopping trip.

Me, not shopping. Unheard of.

Cancer has taken my breast, and I'll be damned if it takes my hands and feet too. I'm out of heels as it is, and I'd rather die than end up in crocs.

My doctor is going on vacation and I wasn't scheduled to see him for six weeks, so the nurses kindly did their magic with the schedule and fit me in. Not only that, but they wrote down all the things I'd wanted to discuss on a piece of paper for me (a couple of things were questions they had). Smart move, as I would have forgotten.

Chemo nurses understand chemo brain.

After my herceptin drip, they put me on the scale and I was shocked to discover I had gained more weight. I'm gaining a pound every two weeks and now I'm 103.5.

I know, don't hate me. But, my entire life I've been that skinny person everybody either made fun of or secretly thought was anorexic. (Couldn't be further from the truth - I'm a foodie who loves to eat.) The most I have ever weighed in my life was 125 and that was when I was 9 months pregnant. I'm supposed to be thin. I hated it until I was about 48, and then realized it wasn't so bad. I'm used to it by now, even with the downside of still having to shop in the Junior's section of department stores.

"No, I'm not shopping for my daughter, and is it possible you have any jeans without a 3 inch rise?"

The only place I ever gain weight is in my belly, and I don't want to end up looking like a spider - big body, skinny arms and legs.

So, rapidly gaining weight is concerning to me and I hope it's steroids and not menopause, or I'm going to have a serious problem on my hands.

I might actually have to exercise. God help me.

Anyway, I digress. I discussed all my concerns with the doctor, none of which included weight. I know better than to complain about weighing 103. Except to you readers, of course.

He prescribed me trazadone for sleep.

To prevent further nerve damage, he is going to try me on Taxol instead of the Taxotere that I have been taking. Instead of having chemo drugs every three weeks, I'll have Taxol weekly for 9 weeks.

More time in the infusion room, just what I wanted.

On the advice of another blogger, I am taking L-Glutamine. It has promise as something that can help neuropathy, as shown by some small clinical trials - but not studied enough to be fully convincing in all circumstances. I don't want to count on that alone to prevent neuropathy, although I will continue to take it. I really hope the Taxol will do the trick.

And, I finally got my referral to the radiation oncologist. I am hoping I don't need radiation. The doctor said I was on the bubble but he didn't think it would be necessary. I am going to make sure to tell the radiation oncologist if there is even a chance I can get away without it, I want to take that chance. He's in the business of giving people radiation, and I'm in the business of getting this over with. So, unless he tells me that it will improve my chances of living a longer life by a significant percentage, I'm thinking I'll refuse.

Radiation would be daily for about a month, and would put off my reconstruction by a year.

So, as much as I love medical procedures, this is one I want to skip.



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