Phoenix rising
The days have dragged and then they've raced, I feel so much has happened since I last checked in. Overall right now I feel much better since I've started the 2nd half of chemo, maybe it's the Christmas season, maybe I've just found some balance but either way it's a welcome relief.
Picking up where I last left off, I had my port (port-a-cath/central line) surgically implanted on the Wednesday after my last infusion. My parents took me in and overall it was a simple surgery, I was consciously sedated and the whole team was professional and compassionate. This is a device that is like a quarter sized disk with a thin tube that sits just under my skin slightly below my collarbone. The nurses insert the needle into the disk and the drugs travel through the tube into my heart. Using this protects the veins in my arms and makes it much easier than getting a line in. I was quite anxious about infection since my mom had a life threatening infection during her chemo, but now that I'm passed it I can say everything went well and it has made getting treatment much easier. I was expecting pain at the surgery site after but I must admit I was surprised by how much it affected my range of motion on that side until it healed, about 10 days. I also wasn't able to lift anything more than 4lbs for a few days as to not dislodge the line, which was hard to remember.
Actually that whole weekend was hard. This also coincided with my dark weekend and with the port pain I went down a tunnel. I couldn't get out of bed (except for absolute necessities) for a few days and it was more than body pain....my mind hurt too. I didn't know what to do since I wasn't really sure what was wrong, and the meds I had on hand weren't helping. I was dizzy and exhausted and sore and just generally feeling sorry for myself. My MIL was holding down the fort but she was worried but trying not to seem worried and I couldn't tell her what I needed because I really didn't know. I just couldn't shake it. On the Monday, mid-morning, the light returned, I told Adam I felt like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. I have since found out some of the meds I was taking for 3 days after treatment, because they are a steroid, could cause the extreme drop in my moods, and so I have had those removed from my treatment plan for now to see if that helps.
The first test of my port came when I received my 1st of 13 Herceptin infusions. The first round was a loading dose and so had to be infused over 90min and then I had to stick around for another hour since it could cause allergic reactions but I was good! Going forward they'll reduce the infusion times until I get down to 30mins. I'll be getting infusions every three weeks but since Herceptin isn't a chemo drug (its a hormone suppressor since my tumour expressed the HER2+ marker) I won't have the side effects, yay!!
The next day was infusion 1 of 4 of a new chemo drug, PACLitaxel (taxol) officially marking my halfway point of chemo. This also needed to be infused over a longer period, 3+hrs since it can cause reactions. As it was I was about 80% through the infusion when I started coughing. Now I had had a cold/cough for about a month and half at this point so a cough wasn't anything new, but the issue was the cough wasn't easing up when I drank some water or had a lozenge and it was getting more powerful. The doctor was called in and my vitals were taken and I was given a few meds to try and ease it. By the time I was coughing so hard I couldn't talk at all anymore and was feeling nauseous they had stopped the infusion. Things started to calm down and as my vitals returned to normal, I just had to wait around until I could talk properly before I could leave. I was okay for the rest of the day, still coughing a lot but not incapacitated at least. It's the little wins that count!
But the drama wasn't over yet... One of the things that is drilled into you when you start chemo is how important it is to check for fever as it can signify infection, therefore I take my temperature twice a day no matter how I feel. If its 38C or above I'm to go to Emerge. Friday night I 'felt' normal but I took my temp before bed like always and for the first time it registered above 37C, but I had recently been cozy in front of the fire so I thought I'm just going to wait a half hour and take it again just to be sure. Well it went up to 38.4C....I wasn't expecting that. Adam was at work and I didn't have any parents up so I was home alone with the kids, time to call in the reserves! I messaged my brother and SIL and let them know what was up. I wanted to wait a few min and take my temp again just to be sure, but sure enough 15min later it was now up to 38.7C, so my brother came by to hang out with my sleeping kids while I trucked down to STEGH, thankfully only 5 min away. When I got there my temp had reduced but my blood pressure was down and my pulse was racing so they tried to figure out what was up. I still didn't feel any different, and all of my symptoms, body aches, fatigue, nausea, cough, could all be explained by my chemo treatments so it was extra confusing, but after the million dollar workup and nothing to point to infection, I was sent home with directions to come back if anything changed. I am so grateful that I have a great hospital just down the street and family to rely on when I need someone quick!! My cough has been put down to bronchitis so I have a few puffers that are helping immensely.
Now that I have my cough under control I'm sincerely hoping for a much smoother time between treatments. If everything goes according to plan I will have my last chemo infusion on December 31st!! That is buoying my mood as I feel I'll be able to have that step completed before the new year. Also exciting to look forward to is Christmas will fall on my best days in-between treatments! I'm really looking forward to having the family all over; we put our tree up a few days ago and have been listening to carols for days, Ben has even learned quite a few Christmas songs on the piano so that's been fun to listen too.
Thats enough for today though. I've had the results of my genetic testing so I'll talk about that and the repercussions of it next time.
Until then, adieu ladies and gents, and if you haven't yet this month, check yourself!