Chemo 3

***I typed up most of this post while I was having chemo. My chemo is supposed to be 3 pre-meds, adriamycin chemo, then cyclophosphamide chemo. I got the pre-meds (but the nurse messed up and forgot to hook one up to my port so it was pumped on the floor instead of into me. No big deal, she got another one so I still got it.) I got the adriamycin, then the nurse hooked up the cyclophosphamide. After it had pumped for about 15 minutes (it takes 30 min) she came running over and turned it off and told me that she had made a huge mistake. She didn't give me my cyclophosphamide, she gave me carboplatin that was supposed to go to someone else. I had half a dose of carboplatin. She was crying and freaking out and I was freaking out cause I didn't know if the 2 together would kill me or what would happen. My oncologist was called over and she was MAD. I am supposed to get carboplatin, but not until mid-March, and not with the adriamycin. So they *think it should be ok. I only got half a dose, etc. I'm supposed to watch out for my blood count cause the two drugs that I got today can lower it. So I'll give myself my shot tomorrow like usual and then go in next week for a mid-treatment blood check. (I normally don't get those until chemo days.) So now I've got to figure out when I'm going to get the dose of cyclophosphamide that I didn't get today (my oncologist said no to it since I had the carboplatin), and how this affects my treatment schedule. Ugh. 

Original Post:

Today is chemo number 3 for me. It's quiet here because it's President's Day. Very unusual for a Monday but we will take it! I am my nurse's only patient this afternoon. 

On Mondays, there is this guy who works (or volunteers) here who passes out cookies. He's a young guy-I call him cookie boy. Brian was wondering this morning if cookie boy would be working or if he had President's Day off. Well, as soon as we got here and sat down, cookie boy came around with his tray of goodies. No cookies for the new vegan (me) but Brian got a chocolate chip one. Perks of Monday chemo=cookies. 

My oncologist checked me today and said all is going well. The tumor feels much softer and has shrunk. She measures the entire breast, not just the tumor. It has shrunk by 1cm. So that is good progress. We can't feel the lymph node that was also very swollen anymore. Not me or her or my surgeon. So yay!

Everyone keeps asking how I feel and basically chemo makes me grumpy and scared for a few days afterward. Well, maybe not grumpy. Just not as peppy as usual? Or maybe it is grumpy-you would have to ask Brian. It also makes me flushed and turns my cancer breast red for a couple of days. I tell myself that's the chemo killing the cancer but I'm not exactly sure why it does that. I'm lucky to not have any worse side effects and I pray it stays that way. 

Exactly 7 days after the last chemo I had a fast heart rate for a day. It woke me up 2-3 times early that morning with my heart pounding and I had the school nurse check me when I got there and my heart rate was high. It stayed high until late that afternoon, then it went back to normal and has been normal since. This red chemo I'm on can cause heart problems now and up to 10 years after you finish taking it, so it made me nervous. My oncologist was able to get me in with a cardiologist today. I had another echo which was perfect, and an EKG. It showed that there's something going on with the electricity in my heart. I will start taking a low dose of a pill to regulate it and hopefully not have a racing heart anymore. I was also instructed to eat more salt. (I don't ever add salt to anything) I'm drinking like crazy - at least 64 ounces per day, but it's not staying in me enough to hydrate me. So the salt is supposed to keep it in. So add that to my list of foods to eat. 

In hair news, I am almost all the way bald now. Timothy has been excited to see me completely bald because he's seen a boy's bald head before (Brian), but never a girl's bald head. :-) I have exactly 1 freckle on my entire head. Which is crazy considering how many I have on my face, but they all stop at the hairline. Then 1 on the top. I have been sleeping with a hat on and I have apologized to Brian for making fun of him all those times he slept with his hoodie pulled over his head. He was onto something. Bald heads get freaking cold at night! Still makes me feel like I'm sleeping next to a criminal with the hoodie on, but I get it now. 

The vegan diet is going well I guess. I miss cheese. Cheese would make a lot of this vegan stuff taste way better! I found some vegan breakfast "cookies" that sort of, kind of taste like oatmeal raisin cookies if you close your eyes and try to imagine that flavor really hard while you're eating them. The other stuff just tastes sad. I'm vegan plus I'm staying away from wheat (gluten) and any added sugar so it's been tricky to find stuff that fits in all those categories and is low in fat. I also don't do caffeine but it's been several months since I stopped that. 

As far as our needs right now, just prayers is what we're asking for. Praying for complete and permanent healing, praying that I can keep going with chemo and no side effects, praying for Brian and the kids and Mom and Dad. Thank you to everyone that is praying with us and for us. It means more to me than I could ever say. Just thank you all so much!