Chemotherapy Begins!

Cycle 1 of 6-8 treatments

What a strange day! Today, I was scheduled for a follow up appointment with my oncologist. After arriving, my vitals were recorded by a overly chatty medical assistant who decided she was going to complain to me about her current medical woes (seriously?)!  I then met with the doctor who received the report from the radiologist that the biopsy couldn't be done and we both were in agreement that we should just move forward with the chemo treatment plan that we had discussed 2 weeks ago. She said to me that if I wanted I could start today -- providing the pharmacy had my drugs in stock. I thought, "Well, I don't have anything to do today and it is going to be 90+ degrees outside and I wanted to find some air conditioning to stay in for the day, so why not."  I actually thought I'd hang out at the library or go to the mall to stay cool, but getting chemo treatment is also an option. The doctor left to check with the pharmacy and came back to say that they had the drugs in stock and they could treat me. Before heading over the infusion center, I did find out that the CT scan on Wednesday showed growth in the tumors over the 7 weeks from the last CT. Granted it was just a couple of millimeters, but growth all the same, which indicated to the oncologist that the lung metastasis most likely originated from the endometrial cancer, as breast cancer doesn't grow that fast. Also, I'm still mildly anemic. Not great when you're heading into chemo treatment.

After this discussion, the doctor escorted me over to the infusion center which was about 100 feet away, where I met the amazing staff, got a little tour of my little home away from home, and then took a seat in a lovely corner area and proceeded with treatment. The infusion center was eerily empty due it being the day after a holiday. 

Let the treatment begin. My specific treatment takes 5 hours from start to finish! Oh, my goodness gracious!  It starts with 90 minutes of three pre-medications which are a steroid, an anti-nausea drug and 2 histamine blockers. All of these pre-meds are to help with side effects and/or possible allergic reactions. Next, I was given cancer drug #1 - Taxol (Paclitaxel), which took 3 hours to infuse, followed by a 30-minute infusion of cancer drug #2 - Carboplatin. The only issue I had with any of these drugs was a rise in body heat. I was freezing when I got there and was under a blanket but half way through I was sweating my nuts off... well, I mean if I had any! Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful. How did I spend my time? I watched some television (daytime tv blows!), read a little of a book, and tried to nap (no go!) but mostly I chatted with the staff. The staff at the infusion center are a group of incredible nurses who took a goodly amount of time explaining every step of the way of what was being done. My treating nurse stayed with me for most of the day and gladly did anything and everything I needed or wanted. Mostly it was about bringing me water and snacks. Mmmmmmm.... snacks!  Also, we had a little fashion show! It appears that the cancer center has a whole host of volunteers who make head coverings for cancer patients. They have hundreds upon hundreds of these coverings, so a couple of nurses and I went through many of them and picked a few for me to wear once I lose my hair. It was a completely fun way to kill some time.

What do I have to look forward to over the next few days/weeks. Here's a list of just some of the possible side effects:

• Anemia (Great! I don't really need that)
• Hair loss (I'm a cute baldy; I'm okay with that)
• Joint and/or muscle pain
• Neuropathy - numbness and tingling in hands and feet
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Mouth sores
• Allergic reaction 
• Taste changes (last time everything tasted like metal - ugh!)
• Weakness
• Insomnia (from the steroid)

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that I would be starting treatment today, but I'm kind of glad that it happened this way. No thinking about it, stressing over it - just go in and get it done. If we stick to the "every 3 week" schedule for treatment, I will have 3 treatments completed before the school year starts. Woot, woot!  Even better. 

Next up: another follow up appointment in 1 week with my oncologist to check my blood stats.