Chemo and I

RJ-my napping partner with me on the weekend.


Sammy-My sleeping parther throughout chemo.

I was on chemotherapy from February 2006 to June of 2006. I was on Adramycin and Cytoyan for two months followed by Taxol for three months. I was then on Herceptin for seven more months but they don't consider Herceptin to be "chemo" since it doesn't have too many harsh side effects. For legal reasons, the pharmaceutical companies will always list all the side effects. My oncologist told me that I won't get them all but I always liked preparing for the worse so it will be easier if I don't get them all. Since I'm recapping, I'll list the toll chemo had on my body. Remember, the A/C combo is harsh and that is why they start you with that. Taxol almost seemed like a piece of cake compared to A/C.

1. My hair-gone in 14 days and was sporting Sinad O'conner's due for several months. Gone were my eyebrows, eyelashes and the rest of my body.



2. Fatigue-I taught throughout my chemo. There were mornings that I laid on the floor after getting myself out of bed to make myself get up and get dressed. There were evenings where I would sit down on the sofa and pass out immediately. RJ and I would just nap together on the weekends.



3. My nails-it thinned out and had ridges in them. I also turned a dark color and I recall a student of mine asking if I bruised them.



4. My taste bud-even water didn't taste good anymore. I had to drink diluted juice for months. The first two bites were great and then the rest would taste bland. The pharm label it as "metallic" taste. I just found everything to be weird and bland tasting.



5. My female cycle-gone. They call it chemopause. Never wanted it back so badly.



6. Sleep-between steroids and chemopause, I would be able to fall asleep but wake up after several hours. This was not conducive at all, especially when I had to wake up at 5:30 am to teach students.



7. White blood counts-down because my body is "attacking" the chemo. They would give me Neulastra shot, each a whopping $6,000! (Always have insurance!!) The Neulastra would make my bones ache because it was producing more white blood cells. I had to tell my parents and students to keep their children at home of they were sick. Lysol and hand sanitizers were my best friend this school year.



8. Red blood counts-I started to become anemic which didn't help me being fatigued. They gave me another shot Arenest, only a mere $2,000 per shot. Right.



9. My skin-it felt dry and had a tendency to peel more. My heel took the grunt of that. It started peeling off in thick layers. I had to be very careful not to get it infected since my white counts were so low.



10. Feeling normal-I just felt off. I was almost as if I was suffering from a hangover or had the flu. I slept a great deal over the weekend. My baby, Sammy, and I slept together for hours over the weekends and they days I got my infusions.



11. My bowl movement-I won't go into details but, yes, it even effect this!



12. My appetite-the steroids made me get up at 4:00 am to have a slice to toast. The weird taste in my mouth didn't want me to consume anything. Luckily, my mom was in town for three weeks and fed me good healthy food and stocked up my freezer too. Surprisingly I did not gain weight from the chemo like most women. I'll get to my weight gain at a future post.
13. I was hoping to stay away from unlucky 13 but I always had fear of being nauseated. I felt nauseated twice but only threw up once.

Well, I guess that is it. I'm sure it did a number in my body that I cannot actually pin point and that there may be some long term repercussions, like whether or not I'm still fertile. Only time and technology will tell. I never got blood clots or the 100 other items the pharm companies list on their drugs. However, I find myself to be very lucky because I know many other women that were hit a great deal harder from the chemo. My advice to try to eat well, exercise and keep yourself mentally busy. I walked most days, even if it was to just get mail. Working tired me out but also good because it made my five months of chemo not drag on so much.