Chemo #5 difficulties

On October 4, 2011, I had my fifth chemotherapy treatment.  It was my first round with Taxol.  I was given the usual pre-chemo cocktail of Emend, Dexamethazone, Zofran, and Ativan.  This time I also received Benadryl and Pepcid to counteract allergic reactions that can happen with Taxol.  The reactions occur not from the Taxol itself, but the liquid the Taxol is suspended in.  I didn't have any reactions - but I did get very looped and groggy from the Benadryl, Zofran, and Ativan combination.  I had several wonderful visitors and finally told Jennifer and Sarah that I needed to drift off in sleep for a while.  We were there a total of six hours!  

I went back 24 hours later and received my Neulasta shot.  Yes, the $12,387 shot.  Fatigue had already set in. Nausea, not so much!  Thank goodness.  I went to an accupuncturist on Thursday to counteract some of the side effects.  My chief complaints were muscle and bone pain.  It was relaxing.  But, that evening, the bone and muscle pain were excruciating.  I was up most of the evening.  I called the cancer center on Friday morning and the oncologist wrote a prescription for a stronger pain med.  Barely able to walk, a friend picked up the script and delivered it to the house.  THANK YOU.  It takes the edge off, but barely.  It honestly feels like my bones are breaking.  My pelvic bones, my femur, tibia, and ankle bones.  I also have severe abdominal pains.  These are all listed as side effects for Taxol and Neulasta.  

Other side effects I'm having are extreme hot flashes and thrush, again.  I would classify the hot flashes more as a volcanic eruption.  My scalp gets SO HOT.  Beads of sweat drip off my head.  I have them during the day and night.  I'm fairly sure I'll have to replace our pillows once I'm done with treatment because they get soaked at night.  And then, freezing cold.  Not much sleeping of late.  

Still struggling, I called the oncologist on-call Saturday and explained the pain I'm experiencing.  He asked my age.  When I told him, he said it's likely my bone marrow is really mounting a strong fight to develop new blood cells and that is what is causing the pain.  He suggested I also take Ibuprofen with the narcotic medication.  

Conor and Olivia have been great.  Conor has made countless trips to the grocery store for me.  Others check on me daily knowing this round has been the hardest of all.  It makes me wonder what the next round will be like.  

MRI and Neulasta Shot-August 24, 2011

I woke up nauseated and exhausted.  I went to work for a few hours. Then, I went to the Cancer Center, received my Nuelasta shot in the back of my arm.  Then, I was to receive an IV contrast during the MRI and they indicated my port site could be used for it as well.  My fear of the port is now greatly reduced since I've started using Emla cream.

I'm so tired I fell asleep several times during the MRI, which is a good thing because I get slightly claustrophobic in the tube.  Afterwards, the MRI technician, hadn't taken out an IV access to a port before, so he put saline and heparine through the port, and I pulled it out.  I don't know what I was thinking!  Brooke, from the Cancer Center, said I could go back and have them take it out.  I didn't think it would be that hard.  I had blood to my waist by the time I finally got it out. And, it hurt like crazy/!  I'll have to pay more attention when they take it out during my next chemo.  I should find the MRI results tomorrow.  Hoping for no mets to my spine.  "Mets" is common cancer terminology for metastasis.

On to a less depressing subject.  The Neulast shot. The extremely expensive shot. I had to find out more about it.  Interestingly, I did. Just reading the patient insert at the Cancer Center peaked my curiosity.  Straight from the Amgen, It says, "Neulasta is a man-made form of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), which is made using the bacteria e.coli.  G-CSF is a substance produced by the body.  It stimulates the growth of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell important in the body's fight against infection."  The most fascinating thing to me is that it's made using e.coli.  I work in public health. We educate people on proper food preparation to prevent getting e.coli, and now I'm paying to receive it in my shots to bring my white blood cell counts up.  I'd already read the most common side effect is bone pain.  Others are splenic (spleen) rupture, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), and allergic reaction.  So, there is the result of my research.  I want to do more research on what and how e.coli is used in the injection, but, frankly I'm tired and nauseated.

Time to go back to sleep.