We are 9 weeks in to my chemotherapy and… drum roll please… I’m DONE with Adryamycin (The Red Devil) & Cytoxan! Praise Jesus! Hallelujah! Oh, and that awful shot nuelasta (awesome technology, awful side-effects). I did it guys, I fought like hell through 4 rounds of, well hell. It was quite honestly one of the most gruesome, life changing and humbling experiences of my, almost 28-years on this planet.
Looking back on the last 3 months I am incredibly proud of myself. Im not usually one to toot my own horn, but toot toot cause I freaking DID IT. There are no words to describe how debilitating some days were but I NEVER once let my cancer define me or dictate my day. Even on the worst days. Like the time I was at Arizona Tile picking out flooring for our house, with a barf bag in my purse and a bottle of Zofran in hand. I wonder if they have ever had a customer implement the ol’ “how does this tile handle vomit” test before?
Side note, between your drum rolling and my horn tooting, we should really start a band.
I am now on weekly treatments every Thursday for 12 weeks! The regimen I receive now is called Taxol. And it should be called Taxing cause OMG it’s just the wor… just kidding its amazing!!!!! Seriously guys, I have had minimal side effects. I even started working out again, even on the day of chemo. It’s incredible, I feel SO amazing and very blessed my body is handling this regimen so well
.
To be completely transparent, I thought I was going to lose 20 pounds after my first treatment and I wasn’t mad about that. But then all of my steroids (and presumably God) laughed in my face. My sister in law says I can’t be greedy and be skinny AND get new boobs-I guess she’s right! Wahhh wahhh.
The only real negative about Taxol is that is likely to cause neuropathy (sensational numbing or tingling in fingers & toes), which obviously isn’t ideal for my career as a hair dresser! So, I am trying to be responsible and plan ahead. During my treatments I wear frozen gloves and socks that have been said to help prevent the neuropathy. Sounds terrible but really, after a miserable 5-10 minutes they just get numb and all is well. Plus I get a healthy dose of Benadryl intravenously as one of my pre-treatment drugs so I’m usually out cold (BABE I DID IT I MADE A GOOD PUN!!) so I don’t really even notice those socks! Oh the second precaution?
All in all, my body has responded UNBELIEVABLE to chemotherapy. I thank the Lord every single day for manifesting this incredible drug to help heal me from this shitty (sorry Grandmas) disease! My liver, kidney, and heart are all functioning exceptional, and today my nurse said my blood work was “perfect.” Hey, I’m a bald, hormonal woman, I’ll take all the compliments I can get! For real though, I am so so thankful that I have been able to continue treatment without any transfusions or set backs of any kind!
I am still on pace to finish my chemo in 10 weeks. Then I’ll have to detox for 3 weeks before they can give me my bilateral mastectomy and remove my thyroid. So, for all of you that don’t feel like pulling out a calendar, that would put surgery at the second week of July! After that I’ll have a 6-8 week recovery and then I will begin 6 weeks of radiation. Which. Happens. Every. Single. Day. Where’s my purse, I need that barf bag.
So as I continue treatment, I can’t stinking wait for my next P.E.T. scan (which should be before my mastectomy) because remember that orange sized tumor in my breast...IT’S GONE. Like seriously undetectable during a breast exam. And that my friends, gives me ALL kinds of hope!
댓글