I just thought I would share some of the background
of my diagnosis, and also share some insight on random things about going
through this first phase of Chemotherapy.
Initial
Diagnosis
**
Wednesday, Sept 18, 2013 – Mammogram, Ultrasound, 3 Biopsies
**
Monday, Sept 23, 2013 – Official Diagnosis.
We were certain that this
diagnosis was coming. Because of our
lack of understanding we really thought we were going to take off immediately and
go to Texas to MD Anderson for treatments.
Thankfully they discussed some key components that are important with
treatment, like keeping stress level as LOW as possible, and they talked us off
that ledge of impulsiveness. We prayed
for guidance and got answers right away to go to the Siteman Center in St.
Louis.
When
describing the type of cancer, and how they needed to treat it, they used words
like “rare” and “aggressive” which are words I now despise. For us, aggressive treatment meant we were
going to start chemo ASAP. It would have
helped a great deal emotionally if someone would have explained to us that it
would be 2 weeks before this (aggressive) treatment would begin because
of all of the other tests that needed to be done. While they were extremely necessary tests,
and we did eventually get the explanations, there were days that went by that
felt like we were doing nothing towards making progress.
Wednesday,
Sept 27, 2013 – CT Scan and Bone Scan
Friday
Sept 29, 2013 – MRI and Muga Scan
Tuesday,
Oct 1, 2013 – Port placement
Wednesday,
Oct 2, 2013 – Tooth extracted because of infection (had to get this
done and be on antibiotic before chemo could begin)
Friday,
Oct 4, 2013 – 1st meeting with Oncologist at Siteman Center
And the Chemo begins!
Four
treatments for “Phase 1”.
Treatment
#1 – October 8, 2013
Treatment
#2 – October 22, 2013
Treatment
#3 – November 5, 2013
Treatment
#4 – November 19, 2013
On a treatment day, I get blood work done first
(through the port thank goodness!).
Thankfully my blood work was always good enough to allow me to continue
for the day. After blood work I meet
with my oncologist for an exam and discuss questions and progress. Next it is on to the Pod where the chemo will
begin. They begin with 4 anti-nausea
medications through the port IV which usually took about the first hour and 15
minutes. The 1st type of
chemo was called a ‘push’ where they manually push it through the IV. This has a nickname of “Red Devil”. The 2nd type of chemo was an IV
drip that took about 45-50 minutes. If
the 2nd type was administered faster than this it felt like I had a
ton of bricks sitting on my head. (found
this out at Treatment 1)
Between
Treatments
There was a 2 week span in between each
treatment. The day after each treatment
I gave myself the Neulasta shot. This shot
helps your body rebuild white blood cells.
While I had never given myself a shot before, it really wasn’t too
bad. I was glad when it was over, but it
wasn’t bad.
Also, for 3 days after each treatment I had a couple
of pills to take.
Thankfully, I have not had even one time of being sick
with vomiting. Praise the Lord!!
I have had some days with extremely low energy but I
am fortunate to be able to get a lot of rest when needed. I have not worked at school since my
diagnosis and am currently just using sick days.
After Treatment 2 I had a lot of painful achiness in
my legs which was due to the Neulasta shot.
We found out that taking Claritin (yes the allergy medicine!) would help
with that and it really has!! While
there is still sometimes a tingly achy feeling, it is nothing like it was!
I have been amazed at how much more careful I have
to be with everything, even brushing my teeth!
I wash my hands constantly and have become so much more aware of just
how many things you touch in a day.
I have ventured out…but not much. There can be so much risk of sickness and the
thought of getting sick can get to me….one mistake and it could mean the
postponement of a treatment. I do not
want that!
For church, I have been worshipping with my church
family through live streaming which is wonderful!! (www.ibcbenton.org)
Hair
loss
On the day of my 2nd treatment I had some
‘shedding’ going on. For the next few
days it got worse. I could just sit and
draw out lots and lots of strands of hair.
By Friday I couldn’t take it anymore and I had Mike cut my hair to my
chin hoping that would help. But,
Saturday morning we had a little scissor party in the bathroom. Both girls took turns cutting away however
they wanted!! (This, by the way, was a
fun memory that we all did together…when life gives you lemons ya know!!!) Then Mike used his sheers to trim it down to
around a ½ inch in length. From then on,
it has been hats and wigs!! There is
still a little ‘peach fuzz’ on the top of my head but that’s about it. And oh my, is my scalp white!!!
I still have my eyelashes and eyebrows which I am
very happy about! I am hopeful they do
not fall! Guess we will wait and see!
Food
Some foods can taste different depending on the day
in the cycle of the treatment. There are
also cravings that have been a little surprising.
I craved chicken & noodles/dumplings at the
beginning. They still sound wonderful
to me but the craving was REALLY strong in the beginning. Also, I have had an egg/cheese sandwich or
egg salad sandwich almost daily for the last month. There are only a handful of days that I haven’t
one of these. While I have not googled
much information at all, I did research cravings a little and eggs were a very
common craving!
Soda tastes terrible to me. I think it is the carbonation. I have drank more water in the last 2
months!! Sometimes I add a flavor packet
if plain water tastes funny (which is usually the case within the first couple
days of treatment)
In
Closing….
This post is mainly intended to provide information about
my diagnosis and my first phase of treatments.
During this time though, we have received an overwhelming amount of love,
support, prayers, meals, financial assistance, and more. I plan to talk about that in another post
very soon!
We are blessed!
Extremely Blessed!
God is GOOD!!
ALL the time!
Karen I am a coworker of Mikes. I just want you to know your blog post is strong and helps those not going personally going through this life challenge understand how quickly life can change. Tonight I am thankful for your strength!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you Karen for your courage, faith, and strength. I found this to be very inspiring. My thoughts and prayers go out to you.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts and prayers are with you and your family Karen and hope you meet all of your challenges head on with your friends and family's love, prayers, courage and support!
ReplyDeleteThank the Lord for everything he has done so far and for the "aggressive" treatment. I did not have to have the same type of chemo that you have had - there was no "push" drug - I had four chemo treatments and was not sick either. The hair loss at first was the worst because I could not control it but I had it cur very short then went to the beauty shop and had it shaved. I pretty much kept it shaved until the chemo was over and wore whatever I felt like wearing on my head - a wig, a scarf, a cap or many times nothing at all and there were days when I would change many many times. I did not lose my eye lashes or my eyebrows until I did radiation and then my eye lashes fell out like three times. But they grew back just fine. Hair has grown back much different - thicker strands - which is fine I just keep it short now because it is easier to deal with. On another plus side I don't have much hair on my legs or under my arms anymore and it has been 5 years. No hair at all above my knee. I know everyone it different with their types of cancer and their treatments and you have done an amazing job in taking control of the situation and that is the best thing that you could do. My doctor at Siteman was Dr Naughton and he was wonderful - I still go once a year to see him and will forever just so I can be sure that nothing comes back - such a small price to pay to keep healthy. My prayers are with you and your family.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this! My grandfather has been doing chemo treatments for over a year now and some things have still never been explained to us like the taste of foods and that the allergy meds could help the,leg pain which hurts him daily. Stay strong and you will be in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I remember those shots! I started feeling better and then I would have to have one of them. They gave them at Dr. Oza's office here in Mt. Vernon. I would ache and hurt all over. It was bad. I'm glad that they found a way to make it less painful.
ReplyDeletePraying for you!
Thank you all for your comments and support!
ReplyDelete