While Chemo isn't fun at all, I have to say that they have made vast improvements in it. As bad as it has been I thought I was going to be throwing up all the time. I only got real sick 1 time. That was my first session of my 2nd cycle. Kevin, aka, Bootes for those of you that know him stayed home with me all weekend. I had felt ok after Chemo on Thurs, just tired. Then on Fri afternoon I got sick. I slept for 4 hours after. When I woke up I was very weak and almost passed out. Bootes totally took care of me, brought me some Ginger Ale and crackers.
All of the chemo sessions just really seem to knock me down. The lack of energy and fatigue are the worst. I literally do nothing but sleep and eat for a few days after each first cycle session of chemo. They give me steroids to help with the nausea so I even when I am nauseous I am still hungry. I have gained almost 20 pounds being on chemo which I guess should be the least of my concerns. I know that once chemo is done the puffiness in my face and my appetite from the steroids will decrease. The steroids just make me so hungry sometimes and when I sleep a lot food is my only source of energy. I try to walk at least around the block once the sun goes down. On my better days I can go further. It does help with my energy level. Every week the nurse at chemo asks me if I have been walking that I need to walk.
My Dr went ahead and scheduled my bladder surgery for Monday, Sept 20th. I am so NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS! I really want the hole healed in the bladder so I know it has to be done. The dr said it is painful because of where the cut me. He will go back through the same spot as last time. Right down the middle of the stomach muscles and I will be in pain and have 6 weeks of recovery time. I remember how much pain I was in after the last surgery and it was so awful. I honestly do not know how people have children. As much as I want and wanted them I do not know how you deal with the pain. I am more than happy to adopt!
My last day of chemo FOREVER is tomorrow, August 19, 2010. My last Nuelesta shot is Aug 20, 2010. More writing later...........Thank you for those who take the time to read.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
My 2nd round of chemo they gave me the test drug I was going to be on along with the standard chemo. It is called Avastin. This drug isn't supposed to have to many side effects and the one it has are very rare. Well, I see the Dr every three weeks before each first session of a new cycle begins. When I went back to see the Dr for the 1st session of my 3rd cycle he found that I developed a rare side effect from the test drug. It only happens to 1 in over 1000 people. I developed a hole in my bladder so he cancelled chemo and sent me straight for xrays that day. The xrays confirmed the hole in the bladder. If it doesn't heal on it's own then I have to have another major surgery to fix it with 6 weeks of recovery time. Surgery sucks, so I pray it heals on its own, so far it has been about 8 weeks and it still has not healed on it's own totally. I will have to wait about a month after chemo ends to get my immune system back up and then have the surgery if it still is not healed.
Every week they draw my blood to make sure my white blood cell count is high enough to get chemo. They also test a lot of other things in my blood each week. Well the week after they found the hole in my bladder my blood counts dropped significantly. The week before it was at 1800, when it was re-tested the following Wed. it was down to 800. The next day they tested it again right before chemo hoping it was a bad blood draw the day before. On Thurs it was down to 500. No one is still sure why it dropped, but they had to cancel chemo again. My blood level needs to be at 1000 in order to get chemo. Because my levels were so low they put me on antibiotics and told me stay away from germs and people because I was at high risk to get an infection. The last thing you want while on chemo is to get sick or get an infection as your bodies immune system is unable to fight it off as it normally would. They then decided that because my blood counts dropped that I would need to start getting Nuelsta shots every 3 weeks in order to increase my white blood count. Nuelesta shots have a side effect of causing bone pain because it gets the white blood cells from your bone marrow. I had heard that taking Claritin could help with this bone pain so I had been taking the Claritin. The first time I had the shot I also took Ibuprofen 800 before the shot and a few times after the shot. I didn't have much bone pain, just a little so I felt blessed because some people have horrible pain from this. Well my 2nd shot which was just over a week ago I forgot to take the Ibuprofen after the shot and I had bone pain. It hurt for about a week from the top of my head all the way down to the bottom of my spine. I started taking the Ibuprofen 800 and it helped, but it still hurt pretty bad. As of right now I have 1 shot left in a couple weeks so hopefully that week is not bad as far as the bone pain. I am now down to the end so I do not have to much longer to go which is nice.
Every week they draw my blood to make sure my white blood cell count is high enough to get chemo. They also test a lot of other things in my blood each week. Well the week after they found the hole in my bladder my blood counts dropped significantly. The week before it was at 1800, when it was re-tested the following Wed. it was down to 800. The next day they tested it again right before chemo hoping it was a bad blood draw the day before. On Thurs it was down to 500. No one is still sure why it dropped, but they had to cancel chemo again. My blood level needs to be at 1000 in order to get chemo. Because my levels were so low they put me on antibiotics and told me stay away from germs and people because I was at high risk to get an infection. The last thing you want while on chemo is to get sick or get an infection as your bodies immune system is unable to fight it off as it normally would. They then decided that because my blood counts dropped that I would need to start getting Nuelsta shots every 3 weeks in order to increase my white blood count. Nuelesta shots have a side effect of causing bone pain because it gets the white blood cells from your bone marrow. I had heard that taking Claritin could help with this bone pain so I had been taking the Claritin. The first time I had the shot I also took Ibuprofen 800 before the shot and a few times after the shot. I didn't have much bone pain, just a little so I felt blessed because some people have horrible pain from this. Well my 2nd shot which was just over a week ago I forgot to take the Ibuprofen after the shot and I had bone pain. It hurt for about a week from the top of my head all the way down to the bottom of my spine. I started taking the Ibuprofen 800 and it helped, but it still hurt pretty bad. As of right now I have 1 shot left in a couple weeks so hopefully that week is not bad as far as the bone pain. I am now down to the end so I do not have to much longer to go which is nice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)