3 Down 3 to Go...

So I know it's been since my 2nd treatment that I updated but honestly not too much has happened :) Every day is pretty much the same considering I am not working at the moment which is making me stir crazy but then again with this so called "Polar Vortex" and 30 below temps I'm just fine sitting at home only going to the mailbox. The 3 weeks between treatments were a little worse between this 2nd and 3rd treatment compared to the 3 weeks between the 1st and 2nd treatments. I had more nausea, less energy and man have I been tired. I haven't really been sleeping at night so I try to keep myself up during the day so that I can sleep at night but I might get 3-4 hours of decent sleep at night but those aren't consecutive hours. So anyway, yesterday was Chemo #3! After yesterdays treatment I am now halfway to the end, it is in sight!! My appointment was at 1:00 so Ryan picked me up at noon and we were off. Now, I don't know why but I always feel anxious or nervous before chemo. Maybe that's weird I don't know, it's just the reaction I have. We made a quick stop at Jimmy Johns because we were both starving and the small snack size pretzels and peanut butter crackers at the Cancer Center just weren't going to cut it. We arrived at the Cancer Center and I was surprised that there were only about 6 other people waiting. Normally on Fridays when I have my appointment you can hardly find a seat in the waiting area. I don't know if it was the weather or what but of course I thought "maybe I will actually go back on time." Haha, that's funny, wishful thinking!! It was 1:30 before they called me back. Ryan and I were about to eat our arms off we were so hungry and I just knew that as soon as we pulled our food out they would call me back. Maybe that is what we should have done because then maybe I would have gotten called back sooner. Oh well. Last time I was there they gave me a script for Lidocaine cream to put on my skin over my port to numb it so that I can't feel the needle when they insert it. I applied it an hour before I left then I put a little bit more on when I got to the Cancer Center for good measure. I wanted to make sure I was good and numb because the skin there right below your collar bone is tender. So anyway, I went back and this time I wasn't in a room I was behind 2 curtains but it wasn't too bad. Of course I could here the other patient behind me snoring. My nurse came in and we put on our beautiful masks that we have to wear when they access my port and she stuck me and I was NUMB!! Yay, it worked :) With no issues she was able to draw my blood. She did that and then we waited because it takes an hour to get your labs back to make sure you are able to have chemo. The NP came in and we first talked about the side effects I had this time and she explained to me that each time will probably be worse because the chemo is cumulative. We tweaked my meds a bit hoping it will help so I'm crossing my fingers. She also gave me some Ambien to help me sleep because lord knows I have tried every over the counter med there is that would normally work and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING worked. I got my Ambien today and am looking forward to bed so that maybe I can get some GOOD sleep. She also told me my Potassium is low so she prescribed me a Potassium pill to take twice a day and of course it is a HUGE horse pill, yippee!! I'll be cutting that sucker in half for sure otherwise I think Ryan will have to learn how to do the heimlich! Secondly we talked about work. She explained to me that because of the work I do, which is working with children who are germ carriers and with having no immune system they don't think it is wise so she said they were not planning on releasing me until two weeks after my last treatment is complete which would put me back at work April 14th. I will definitely be more than ready to return to normal life by then. Shoot, what am I saying, I'm ready to return to normal life now but I will just have to be patient, something I am learning to be especially since it is not one of my virtues. After waiting an hour we finally got the first drug started, the Aloxi which is for nausea and is supposed to last 3 days in my system and the "ants in your pants" steroid Decadron. This ran for about 30 minutes. When that was complete the first chemo drug, Cytoxan was started. It ran for 30 minutes as well then I had to wait another 30 minutes after it was done before they could begin the second chemo med, Taxotere which ran 1 hour. Needless to say we were at the Cancer Center from 1:00 to 6:30. We closed the center down! They were already filling out the dry erase boards with Monday's date! While receiving my treatment, I had told them that I heard they had a drawer of scarves and they confirmed that and told me to help myself. So, I unplugged my friend the IV pole and Ryan and I went to raid the drawer. There weren't any scarves but there were a few toboggans so I got 3 new crocheted toboggans in colors I don't have. They told me that people make them specifically for cancer patients which is so nice especially when it is colder than the North Pole outside. Nothing too exciting happened during chemo so afterwards, we put on our pretty masks again for my nurse to de-access my port and I was on my way. I normally feel pretty good after chemo because of the steroids I take the day before and they steroid they give me IV push before chemo so Ryan and I usually try to run some errands and go to dinner which is exactly what we did last night :) My 4th treatment is scheduled for February 14th, yes, Valentine's Day! At least I will feel good or at least should so we can still go to dinner and celebrate afterwards. Not to mention I will be able to spend all afternoon with my Valentine during chemo!

Chemo #3...check!! 

Everything that happens and every side effect I have, my nurse always tells me...

2 down...

Friday, just as I said it would be was a LOOONG day!! It all began at 4:30 am! I know, 4:30, who in their right mind gets up at 4:30? Not this girl but since I didn't have a choice since I had to be at the surgery center at 6:00 am, I did it. So, just like the other 2 times before, we arrived at this surgery center and there were actually other people in there waiting for surgery. I really thought we would be the only ones. After about 15 minutes they called me back. This visit was much more pleasant than the last considering the last visit was when I had my infection and was absolutely miserable! While heading back with the nurse she began telling me that she was going to take me back first to go over my medical history then Ryan could come back. I explained that unfortunately I was aware of the drill. Once we got back there we went over everything then it was time to start the IV. I explained that my recent experiences with IVs have not gone well and it's not because I don't like needles but it is because my veins don't want to cooperate now that I only have one arm to work with which is why I was getting the port-a-cath. She promised that if she didn't see anything she wouldn't stick me and dig around in there. I told here where I thought a good one was and told her you can't see it but you can feel it. So, she went for it and got it without me even feeling it...YAY!!! Ryan came back and soon we were talking to Dr. Nate and the Anesthesiologist which just happened to be the same Anesthesiologist I had when I had the infection. I promised him that I would be a much better patient. At 7am on the dot they came and got me and I walked back to surgery. Before walking into surgery I had to put on the beautiful blue surgery cap but because I don't have any hair and my head stays so cold they let me put it on on top of my toboggan, not that I would really know how cold my head was while in surgery! Anyway, I told the nurse that came and got me that this was the first time I've walked into surgery and laid on that cold, hard metal table. Every other time I had been wheeled back on a bed. I didn't know you could just walk back there. I met all of the surgery nurses, saw Dr. Nate and the Anesthesiologist and before I knew it they were talking to me and I said, "Man, that hits fast" as I was out! Surgery to insert the port-a-cath which was implanted directly below my left collar bone was done in about 45 minutes. Just to fill you in on what a port-a-cath is, it's an implanted venous access device that is placed completely under the skin and is used for collection of blood samples as well as direct administration of chemotherapy into the bloodstream. As I said, my port is placed in my chest and the tip of the catheter is in a vein just above my heart.This will make it much easier for the chemo to be given and it decreases the side effects of vein and tissue damage in my arm. Surgery was over and I was waking up in recovery before I knew it. I was of course a little disoriented as I usually am after surgery and I asked the nurse multiple times if I could take the kleenex home with me. Not sure why I was so worried about the kleenex but I was and I did in fact bring them home with me :) However, the kleenex I already had at home is much nicer and softer than the sandpaper kleenex you get in the hospital. We got home around 10:30 and took a short snooze then off to get a little something in the belly before going to the Cancer Center at 1:00 for my 2nd chemo cycle.

We walked in the Cancer Center and there were quite a few people there. I felt like a veteran this time since I had been to the Cancer Center numerous times and have already had one chemo treatment. I wondered how many people were there for the first time or for their first treatment. It's hard to tell but no one was there alone! At 1:15 they called me back into room 7. I got situated by propping my feet up, covering up with my UK blanket, got my phone, tablet and book next to me along with my fabulous cherry coke from Johnny Rockets and Ryan set up next to me with his laptop so we could catch up on some Breaking Bad on Netflix. Yes people, we are still on season 5 of Breaking Bad but we will get to the end soon enough lol! The nurse came in and began with the blood work. After taking the blood we had to wait an hour for the results to make sure it was ok to go ahead with the chemo. During that hour I saw Sharlee (my nurse navigator), a few other nurses and the NP. We went over how I was feeling and how the last treatment effected me. I told them all the symptoms I had and how they were tolerable and I was hoping that this treatment would be the same. They took a lot of notes and charted EVERYTHING! Finally at 2:30 the 1st drug was administered which was for anti-nausea. Once they began administering the drugs we began with Breaking Bad. Even though we were there for 5.5 hours we only got through 2 episodes because so many people stopped by to see me which is nice. Each nurse I've met and have been involved in my diagnosis and treatment came by and some even had trainees with them that they wanted me to meet. Made me feel good! Around 6:00 pm my chemo nurse came in and said it was almost time to be discharged so we began to get our stuff together and she deaccessed my port. She told me that she sent in a script for an ointment that I can put over my port an hour before treatment so that it numbs the area and I can't feel the needle go in when accessing it. By 6:30 we were out of there and headed home. I was EXHAUSTED!! We got home and were in bed and I was asleep by 9:00! I can't believe I even made it until 9:00 because the night before I didn't get much sleep. The day before chemo I have to start taking steroids which make it difficult to sleep. So Thursday night I finally fell asleep around 12:30 am, woke up at 3:30 am, the alarm went off at 4:30 am and I was in surgery by 7:00 am. I don't count my nap in surgery as a true nap because even when you wake up it doesn't seem like you've been asleep.

Chemo #2...check!

Since chemo on Friday I have been tired and nausea has been a little worse this time. It's not too bad but I haven't felt as good as I did after the first cycle. Nausea, tiredness, taste change and mouth sensitivity have been the only symptoms so far. Luckily I haven't had to go anywhere especially since we have had over a foot of snow and it's -13 degrees outside but feels like -33. I'm glad to be snowed in because I definitely don't feel like going out in that kind of weather! Next cycle is set for January 24th so now we just wait until then!

  

Change...

As I mentioned in the last update, what little hair I had began to thin. You know, I thought that since I shaved my head as short as I could with trimmers it wouldn't fall out because I didn't have the weight of my long hair. However, I was wrong! So, yesterday I sat in the bathroom floor and Ryan used his trimmers to shave my hair shorter because believe it or not, it had grown since the first time I had it shaved. He trimmed it as short as he could get it. I then rinsed my head and more came out so I decided we should just do it, shave it with a razor. We didn't do it immediately but by the end of the evening my head was smooth...and COLD!! I'll be honest, it bothered me a bit at first because even though I had shaved my head I still had hair, now there is NO hair! Now, I'm just glad it's not going to continue falling out but I have to get some more scarves and hats because my head is REALLY going to be cold now! Since it was a little bit of a shock Ryan reminded me, this is only temporary. He is right and he has a perfect way of reminding me daily as I found this note on our meal plan board in our kitchen :)

On to tomorrow. Tomorrow will be LONG! We have to be at the Surgery Center (our 2nd home since this will be my 3rd surgery in 8 weeks) at 6 am to have my port placed at 7 am. Of course this one will be a short surgery. I then have chemo at 1 pm but this time will be much better as far as being stuck goes because I should only have to be stuck one time, in my port! I'm sure I will be pretty drowsy since having anesthesia in the morning so hopefully for Ryan's sake I can stay awake during the 5 hours of chemo :) So, on to round 2!!