Cancer Support

I had 6 rounds of chemo every three weeks. Four chemo drugs, Taxotere, Perjetta, Carboplaten and Herception consecutively, with a 15 minute dose of intravenous Benedryl before starting "infusions" and a five minute ..cant remember the word for it.. rinse in between drugs. I always had chemo on a Thursday and usually felt pretty good til about 9pm on the Fridays after. Then all hell would break lose. Nausea, vomiting, explosive diarrhea. And boy do I mean explosive. but that was just for starters. The headaches I got to wake up to every morning, my nose literally running and bleeding like a faucet had been turned on in my head. There were times I didn't know which end to put on the toilet first. Once I opted for puking in the bathtub. I got so weak about halfway through I had to use a wheelchair. One of the drugs I was taking causes temporary heart damage so I had to go for heart scans (called MUGA scans) to ensure my heart was strong enough to continue chemo. I was given a 3 week break in order to regain my strength and then finished my course.

Chemo is something I would not wish on my worst enemy, and if I hadn't been assured that chemo would be effective I wouldn't have undergone it. But it did shrink my tumors by more than half and my surgeon removed them. She said "all the margins came back negative," which means they think they got it all.

My next journey was Radiation. Boy was that a treat, and yes I'm being facetious. Five days a week for six weeks. Skin burned so bad it was peeling off. Aloe is a wonderful soother but Silvadene cream is a great healer. If you have to do radiation make them give it to you. They'll tell you not to use Aloe before radiation, but I did and I found it helped immensely the first 4 weeks. After that I think the
Techs cranked up the dose because nothing prevented my skin from burning. I can' even imagine what my body must look like on the inside.

I hope your treatment will go smoothly. I think anything that could happen, did happen during my treatment. From the improper placement of my port to the scaring on my skin from receiving chemo directly via my arm.


But I'm through the worst of the treatment. I still have to go for one chemo drug ever three weeks. But instead of it taking 3/4 of the day, it now only takes a couple of hours. And I found out that the reason I got cancer and it grew because my body produces too much Estrogen. Can you believe it? I'm too girlie. . So it will be a year of treatment in April and I won't have to spend so much time at Drs. but he did tell me.. that's not all. Nope. I will have to take a pill for a minimun of the next 5 years that will throw me back into menopause because it will suppress my estrogen production and prevent my cancer from growing back.

If you feel you need someone to commiserate with or to vent.. I'm here. I don't post often, but I do lurk and have an idea of what you are going through.

Be good to yourself and take care