Round 2 Today

I know that I've been ignoring this site...laziness and life in general, but really, one month!!!!

So a quick catchup. 

Three weeks ago today I had a long day at the hospital, had a 6:30 a.m. (yup, early appt.) at the Heart and Lung Building for a port placement.  It's a plastic device about a quarter size in diameter and a half inch deep that is inserted under my skin in my upper chest under my clavicle.  There is plastuc tubing that snakes its way about four inches upward (I can feel it under the skin) that is sutured to a large vein.  This device makes is possible for me to forego IV access in my smaller veins in my arm.  In fact, I had my last IV placed in my hand for this procedure (per the nurse, I'm a hard stick for a vein in the forearm).  This was an all-morning stay, even though I felt well after the procedure, but had to sit and wait for the conscious sedation to wear off.  I was totally awake for the entire procedure, chatting w/medical staff.  I had slept so poorly that I begged them to make me extremely comfortable so that I could get a nap post procedure, but it just didn't happen. 

Speaking of which, I had another lousy night last night, just awful.  I think it might be the steroids that I start taking the day before chemo.  I was just reading on a forum that other TCH regimen ladies have the same problem.  The steroid combined with plenty of hot flashes during the night...I'm beat!!!  I gave up at 4 a.m. and have been up since.  At least I was up to fix Jared a lunch, have prayer w/him and give him a hug before he left for school.  I'm so jealous of Rafael.  That man can sleep!!!  Goes to bed at 10 p.m. sharp and is just now resurrecting, 10 hours later.  Ah, the life of a man.  Fortunately, he will be wide awake to be my chauffeur while I close my eyes and rest.

Last infusion was all afternoon, leaving the center at 6:15 p.m.  We were tired and so grateful to Bro. Mower for bringing in tons of food.  I had to send R out for a new refrigerator.  JK.  The food was great. 

I felt well over the weekend, watched conference and worked in between sessions.  One blessing about this chemo is that I didn't multitask as I usually do on Saturday.  This time I just sat and listened w/full focus during conference.  Generally, I'm working in the kitchen or doing some hand project. 

I got a long nap post Sunday's afternoon session, which turned out to be a god send, as 10 p.m. that night what is called the "long bone pain" kicked in.  Ouch!!!!  While the guys slept, I stared at the ceiling and willed some relief.  The OTC Tylenol didn't work.  Four hours later when I felt that I could take something more, I tried ibuprofen (chemo class recommended not taking ibuprofen, but heck....), and it didn't touch the pain.  Four hours later I took one of my leftover surgical Norco (my interpretation of the paperwork as I read it during the night was not to take analgesic post treatment w/o medical approval, but again what the heck).  The Norco hardly touched the pain.  It was in my thigh, mostly right leg, and my knees...could hardly stand, occasionally down into my ankles.  I've had leg aches, but boy this was a whole new classification I've not experienced. 

R offered to stay home and drive me for my neulasta shot (to jump start the bone marrow to produce the good cells that were killed off by the chemo).  We had originally planned that I would drive, but I was exhausted and too much in pain.  I told him that I would call and get a ride, and sure enough the first person I called was available.  I have such a wonderful ward family. 

Generally, the neulasta causes the long bone pain, but in some patients, per the nurse that morning, the taxotere also does the trick.  Lucky me.  She told me to go home and take two Norco and stay on it every four hours.  I had 11 left from my surgery and went through those, counting the minutes until I could take a dose.  They helped, but did not take away the pain...probably because the med was having such a hard time catching up.  Finally, about midnight, the long bone pain eased (and I was out of Norco) and for the next days I figured that I just had leg aches (knees especially) which I managed with OTC NSAIDs.  I took lots of baths to ease the pain.  Standing in the shower was hard with the knee pain.  I kept a hot pad on the knees as I could. 

We went in last Friday for a blood draw (counts look good) and the PA said that what I had was long bone pain for many days, just to a lesser degree than the initial onset, so she prescribed 10-mg Norco (as compared to my 5-mg Norco from my surgery), so that should do the trick this time, plus maybe it won't be as bad anyway....fingers crosssed. 

Mary Nickels, a local newscaster, who is also going through chemo with the same surgeon as me and at the same oncology center, said in her blog that the first time she got the neulasta shot she also got long bone pain and could not sleep for 5 minutes, so had to call in sick.  She said it was worse than when she broke a leg, blew out a knee and had a C-section.  However, the first time was the worst for her.  Otherwise, she has done really well, until I read her blog this last week.  She just had her 5th or 6th chemo, so is about done, but said that the cumulative fatigue has caught up to her and she's struggling with other chemo effects that previously didn't bug her, but she is now finished!!

Anyway, the bone pain combined w/eating problems (loss of appetite, food tastes awful, fatigue, delicate GI tract--turns out that the cells of the GI tract are fast-growing cells and are highly affected by the chemo.  Anyway, the first week post chemo was not fun, but I resurrected Saturday, which gave a whole new meaning to me the next day on Easter morning. 

Each day I felt better, and the last week has been great, other than some fatigue, but a nap here and there has been very helpful.

Incidentally, sleeping that first week was hard, too.  I would get leg spasms (like restless legs), again probably from the bone pain, marrow jumping into high gear, and anxiousness, and hot sweats, but after the first week, everything seemed to calm down and return to normal. 

MY HAIR--is gone.  Well, I have some stubble left, lots of the stubble has washed off in the shower.  Last Saturday, with very little fanfare, I simply announced that "it's time."  Jared cut my hair and then R gave me a clipper job.  I officially sport a #1.  My two missionaries are a #2.  Tony thinks it's hilarious that his hair is longer than his mom's.  I think it's hilarious too, in a freaked-out way.  Pictures???  Eventually, I just haven't taken them off the camera yet. 

Well, that's all for now.  In a few more hours I'll be sitting in a chair getting my port access (via needle--I hate needles!!) for another go....