Chemo is set

My 1st round of chemo is set for Wednesday, Jan. 28th at 11:30am. Ugh. I meet with the Oncologist at 10:30am that morning then get chemo after that.

I will take steroids Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to protect against allergic reaction to the chemo, it will also help with the side effect of swelling of feet and hands.

The Nurse Practitioner said that usually women feel good the day of and day after Chemo, and that any symptoms they are going to have will start two to three days after Chemo. The side effects of this chemo are: swelling of the hands and feet, mouth sores, nausea (hopefully no vomiting), numbness and tingling in fingertips and toes, hair loss (which she said I will lose my hair right around the start of my second cycle of chemo), joint pain, missed cycles and decreased blood counts (white blood cells, hemoglobin & platelets). She said that a little bit of these symptoms are ok but that I should basically call them when I have more than a littler bit of any symptoms to tell them how much and how long it has been going on because they can give me a pill or shot to help with most of these symptoms.

She said the most important thing to get out of this meeting was that if my temperature is 100.5 or above to call them immediately and they would then send me to the Emergency Room, check my blood counts, start IV fluids and give me antibiotics.

Another thing she said was important was to CALL THEM. She said not to wait to see how bad any one symptom gets. She said if I try to wait to see if I can get it under control on my own then that might result in being admitted into the hospital.

The third thing she said was important was that I eat even when I don't feel like it. She said that the first week after chemo I might not feel like eating. Although they would like me to have a healthy diet she said that the first week they don't care what I eat as long as I can eat (shakes, soup, crackers, etc.).

I will come in weekly to get labs done to check my blood counts and make sure they are good.

I keep telling these Doctors and Nurses that this Chemo and cancer business doesn't fit into my schedule but they are making me move forward anyway. It's hard to think of this as a bump in the road (as my doctor and other survivors keep telling me) when it consumes and halts my whole life right now. When I can, I try to take a step back and realize how lucky I am to have discovered this when I did. My general surgeon said that many doctors if they did not feel the lump would have said to come back in six months (he said he did not agree with this but he said some doctors would say that). Which reminds me. I still need to send that doctor at Howard Brown a card!

More to come in the near future. Thanks for reading and for the continued love and support. It means the world to me.

Judy