Quick Update
Whelp, I am halfway done with chemo! I had my first infusion on June 5th and my second one June 26th. Let me tell you... Chemo is a lot like pregnancy in the sense that people can tell you their experiences and you can plan the best you can, but really, there's no real way of fully preparing for going through chemo. It. Is. Hard. Even with my treatment plan being not as aggressive as others, Chemo still just makes life difficult.
I've posted about it a little as things come a long on social media, but haven't given all the details of anything. There's simply too much and really, there are some things I'd rather not share and that most people would rather not know. 😉 One thing to mention is that even though I feel like it is a little better today, I still feel a little "loopy" or out of it and so writing tends to be difficult, which is the biggest reason why I haven't updated in a while. It's really hard to focus for a long time and forming lots of sentences is a task. So, please forgive me if I don't make a lot of sense!
So, my first infusion went well. Day of, I was nervous, of course, but the infusion itself went very smoothly. I was dozing off and on due to some meds they gave me to help with a headache from the cold cap, but otherwise, it was just fine. The rest of the day I was just tired until about 8pm when the nausea hit and that didn't go away for about 3 days or so. It also felt like new symptoms popped up every day for the first week. Metallic taste in my mouth, not able to taste food properly if at all. (Interestingly, the ONLY thing that tasted normal was cantelope and I found that out on accident.) Stomach pain 24/7, acid reflux that was way more intense than my everyday heartburn, confusion, very S L O W mental processing, forgetfulness, fatigue, muscle/bone pain, sensitive skin on my face, progressive hair loss, slight neuropathy in hands and feet, back and forth between constipation and diarrhea (sorry for TMI), slower reaction time, thrush (which I had NO idea was actually a common thing with chemo patients), the list goes on. After quite a bit of back and forth with the doc and trying different meds, things finally settled down a bit and I had about a week of where I felt "ok" before the second infusion. I still would get tired very easily, which was and is still very frustrating, but at least my stomach was somewhat normal, which was the BIGGEST issue I had been having.
Exactly 2 weeks and a day after the first infusion, on Saturday, I was taking a shower in the morning, and when I went to wash my hair I ended up with a handful of hair...an abnormal amount. It took 5 days of hair loss and minimal hair washing or brushing but I still ended up losing more than 50% of my hair. This was unexpected by all of us...even my oncologist. Between the cold cap therapy, and the "lighter" chemo treatment, we all expected that I would lost no more than half of my hair over the WHOLE course of treatment...not by 5 days after infusion. I was absolutely devastated for the first few days. I was depressed and angry and confused. Then, it just got to be annoying and frustrating. There was constantly hair EVERYWHERE. All over me, all over the floor, all over the bathtub...I felt like I was shedding more than my dog. I had NEVER considered shaving my head at all until Tuesday and I threw my hands up and said I'm done. The next day, a dear friend of mine came over and shaved the rest of my hair off. I surprisingly wasn't emotional during that whole night. I guess it's because I had been so emotional about it already for days. I didn't think it would have effected me as much as it did. It's just hair...it could grow back... But, it even thinking that didn't make it any easier to go through. And really, who knows if it WILL actually grow back. There's no guarantee. Since the head shaving party, I've been wearing head scarves whenever I go out or are around anyone else other than my family...and I don't plan on posting a picture at any point. I'm embarrassed by how I look. I already struggle with the way I look and now I look worse. I've shown a handful of people, halfway expecting to be laughed at, but thankfully that has not happened. I am very grateful for the support and love and encouragement people have shown me.
Second infusion went quicker than the first. Since I don't have any hair on my head now, they didn't want me to use the cold cap because it could burn my scalp. So that shaved about 2 hours off my time and from now on, it'll only take about 3 hours as opposed to 5, which of course, I'm ok with! Since this infusion, things are already better, but still pretty rough. The fatigue is exactly the same as the first time... I still have all the other symptoms as well, but they are not AS intense as the first time and I'm not as emotional about it because they are not all new symptoms that I was getting every day. I am still frustrated and get discouraged a lot daily, but I also have the distraction of the new house, which helps.
Update on surgery: I contacted the plastic surgeon and I think he may actually approve me for September! He is going to talk to the breast surgeon and see what she says. I'm not all the way down to my weight loss goal, but I will be there very quickly. I only have about 8-9 more lbs to go!! I have to have an abdominal and pelvic CT scan on Friday and then we will see what he says! I think unless COVID starts to get bad again or 2020 throws another player in the game, we will be looking at FINALLY getting my surgery! I MIGHT actually be done with all of this by the end of 2020!! That would be incredible!!!!
Well, this was a short post. I apologize. It is late and I am tired. We were out looking at houses quite a bit today too and I am exhausted! But, I am pretty proud of myself. I even put on some makeup today! Second time since March! haha!
God bless you all!
I've posted about it a little as things come a long on social media, but haven't given all the details of anything. There's simply too much and really, there are some things I'd rather not share and that most people would rather not know. 😉 One thing to mention is that even though I feel like it is a little better today, I still feel a little "loopy" or out of it and so writing tends to be difficult, which is the biggest reason why I haven't updated in a while. It's really hard to focus for a long time and forming lots of sentences is a task. So, please forgive me if I don't make a lot of sense!
So, my first infusion went well. Day of, I was nervous, of course, but the infusion itself went very smoothly. I was dozing off and on due to some meds they gave me to help with a headache from the cold cap, but otherwise, it was just fine. The rest of the day I was just tired until about 8pm when the nausea hit and that didn't go away for about 3 days or so. It also felt like new symptoms popped up every day for the first week. Metallic taste in my mouth, not able to taste food properly if at all. (Interestingly, the ONLY thing that tasted normal was cantelope and I found that out on accident.) Stomach pain 24/7, acid reflux that was way more intense than my everyday heartburn, confusion, very S L O W mental processing, forgetfulness, fatigue, muscle/bone pain, sensitive skin on my face, progressive hair loss, slight neuropathy in hands and feet, back and forth between constipation and diarrhea (sorry for TMI), slower reaction time, thrush (which I had NO idea was actually a common thing with chemo patients), the list goes on. After quite a bit of back and forth with the doc and trying different meds, things finally settled down a bit and I had about a week of where I felt "ok" before the second infusion. I still would get tired very easily, which was and is still very frustrating, but at least my stomach was somewhat normal, which was the BIGGEST issue I had been having.
Exactly 2 weeks and a day after the first infusion, on Saturday, I was taking a shower in the morning, and when I went to wash my hair I ended up with a handful of hair...an abnormal amount. It took 5 days of hair loss and minimal hair washing or brushing but I still ended up losing more than 50% of my hair. This was unexpected by all of us...even my oncologist. Between the cold cap therapy, and the "lighter" chemo treatment, we all expected that I would lost no more than half of my hair over the WHOLE course of treatment...not by 5 days after infusion. I was absolutely devastated for the first few days. I was depressed and angry and confused. Then, it just got to be annoying and frustrating. There was constantly hair EVERYWHERE. All over me, all over the floor, all over the bathtub...I felt like I was shedding more than my dog. I had NEVER considered shaving my head at all until Tuesday and I threw my hands up and said I'm done. The next day, a dear friend of mine came over and shaved the rest of my hair off. I surprisingly wasn't emotional during that whole night. I guess it's because I had been so emotional about it already for days. I didn't think it would have effected me as much as it did. It's just hair...it could grow back... But, it even thinking that didn't make it any easier to go through. And really, who knows if it WILL actually grow back. There's no guarantee. Since the head shaving party, I've been wearing head scarves whenever I go out or are around anyone else other than my family...and I don't plan on posting a picture at any point. I'm embarrassed by how I look. I already struggle with the way I look and now I look worse. I've shown a handful of people, halfway expecting to be laughed at, but thankfully that has not happened. I am very grateful for the support and love and encouragement people have shown me.
Second infusion went quicker than the first. Since I don't have any hair on my head now, they didn't want me to use the cold cap because it could burn my scalp. So that shaved about 2 hours off my time and from now on, it'll only take about 3 hours as opposed to 5, which of course, I'm ok with! Since this infusion, things are already better, but still pretty rough. The fatigue is exactly the same as the first time... I still have all the other symptoms as well, but they are not AS intense as the first time and I'm not as emotional about it because they are not all new symptoms that I was getting every day. I am still frustrated and get discouraged a lot daily, but I also have the distraction of the new house, which helps.
Update on surgery: I contacted the plastic surgeon and I think he may actually approve me for September! He is going to talk to the breast surgeon and see what she says. I'm not all the way down to my weight loss goal, but I will be there very quickly. I only have about 8-9 more lbs to go!! I have to have an abdominal and pelvic CT scan on Friday and then we will see what he says! I think unless COVID starts to get bad again or 2020 throws another player in the game, we will be looking at FINALLY getting my surgery! I MIGHT actually be done with all of this by the end of 2020!! That would be incredible!!!!
Well, this was a short post. I apologize. It is late and I am tired. We were out looking at houses quite a bit today too and I am exhausted! But, I am pretty proud of myself. I even put on some makeup today! Second time since March! haha!
God bless you all!
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