I got hit hard with flu-like symptoms yesterday. Body aches and sleepiness. I couldn’t stay awake. I was watching TV and would have to stop and nap frequently. I could barely even listen to my audiobook. Everything took so much effort. I have never experienced this kind of fatigue before! I slept in this morning and have been laying low all day today, but I was able to concentrate today and got some computer projects completed. I believe I am on the road to recovering from Round 2.
Also, sometimes I look in the mirror and just can’t believe I have cancer. Not because of how I physically feel, but more of an identity thing. One day, I will be a breast cancer survivor. That seems so strange to me because this is something that happens to other people. But it is happening to me. And it is curious to me that I haven’t digested this yet.
I’m lethargic and have low energy. I’m getting wiped out pretty quickly after doing much of anything. But that said, things are much better than the last round. My stomach is acting better today. I’m not having an allergic reaction. My throat doesn’t hurt. No hives. I’ll take it! I have an echocardiogram tomorrow because they want to keep tabs on my heart.
Things that have helped:
Chewing on ice chips during the chemo infusion
Icing hands and feet during the chemo infusion
Taking Pepcid and Claritin
Taking Benadryl before chemo infusion.
Not eating late and eating small meals
Drinking electrolytes daily and drinking lots of water
I had round 2 of chemo on Monday. They gave me less of one of the meds in hopes I have a better response this time. I felt great yesterday. Today, I woke up with a sore throat similar to last time. I still plan to go to work because it’s not that bad yet. Sleep is currently rough due to the steroids but I have a feeling as soon as I start tapering those, I may crash again and get super sleepy and fatigued like last time, also. All in all, I’m still hopeful that this round will not be worse than the first round was.
Thank you to my friend, Polly, who sat with me and picked me up so Jeff could handle work emergencies. And grateful that our daughter Ocean is in town and could get me the rest of the way home and spend time with me that night.
My port infection has cleared up, too. They were able to use that for my chemo infusion on Monday. I am happy about that!
My hair is really gone now. The shaved look has gone to patchy bald. I wear hats. I bought a pink wig off Amazon that I’m debating on wearing today for celebrity spirit day! But I’m not sure I’m ready for that attention! 😂 I tell the kids at school that the medicine I have to take mades my hair fall out and I avoid the “C” word.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even in hard times, there is still always so much to be grateful for. ❤️
A common side effect of the chemo I am taking is hair loss. On Wednesday morning in the shower, my hair started coming out in chunks, right about when I was told it would. Jeff got out his razor and shaved my head for me.
One of the teachers at our school surprised me today when he shaved his head in solidarity. (I wasn’t wearing my glasses because I was bawling of course!) Thank you, Will.
The area around my port started getting red so I had to make a trip to urgent care this afternoon. They did blood work, gave me an IV antibiotic, and sent me home with a prescription antibiotic. My mood? 😠 I’m over it with all of the fighting infections and viruses. But haha, no I’m not! Because I just got started.
In summary, I’m bald. I have the best support system. And one day at a time, right? Here is hoping all is well for round 2 of chemo on Monday.
I’m feeling much better today. I hope this means I’m in for a good week. If you don’t hear from me on here for now, I’m getting stuff done and doing fun things before my next chemo treatment on 11/24. ❤️
I got clarification. I should have no problem hitting the threshold to get my benefits because as it turns out, I need to work X amount of hours in a school year, which started for me in August, versus a calendar year. And that actually, makes a lot of sense.
After using a steroid inhaler, my voice came back just enough for me to work yesterday morning. It is still not 100% but much improved. I work in a school office, so I need my voice in order to do my job.
I really love my job. My coworkers put together this amazing gift basket for me. I’m not even sure how to begin to thank everyone. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and love, and this is a wonderful feeling to have when you are going through something like this.
In the afternoon, I drove to Capitol Hill where my doctor is located to get IV fluids. Wow, I feel so much better after that! I’m starting electrolytes today in hopes this helps. And yesterday, and today, I’m eating rice and protein shakes. I had a handful of yogurt covered blueberries last night, and while tasty, they too, made my stomach turn. A Tummy Pop from the gift basket helped with that as well.
I also filled out my FMLA paperwork and was told I am not covered. My dad was really sick and passed away in June. I took a lot of time off to care for him and help him with appointments and hospital visits. Much of that was paid time off but I had to take unpaid time. And I work at a school, so I have summer off as well. There is a requirement to work X many days to be covered. Because of that, I could lose my benefits if I take much more unpaid time. I am still trying to understand all of this and I have to sit down and look at it all. Washington State offers paid medical leave so technically it isn’t unpaid for me because I qualify for that. But if it is unpaid through my employer, then that’s what will ding me, and I think I have just used up all of my paid time off. I’m hoping I can make it through the next round of chemo without a whammy and fill out the paperwork again right after I meet the threshold. Talk about scary! This round was not easy.
And yes, there are a lot of feelings that come up with me around this and how I got to this point because of what I needed to do to help my dad, but I also know I wouldn’t do anything different. Life sure is something, sometimes.
As of right now, I do think I’m barely going to make it to be able to qualify for FMLA and keep my benefits. I need good juju and prayers that this will also work out. ♥️
This is a picture of me just before getting my port placed this morning. It went well and I’m doing okay as far as that goes. But for some unknown reason, I have lost my voice. I have no idea why. I wasn’t intubated when I was sedated. So I’m feeling better than I was yesterday, but now I can’t talk. And I’m really frustrated. Maybe it is stress related? Anyway, enjoy my crazy surgery picture of me smiling my way through this!
I started feeling bad on Thursday and terrible on Friday. I got hives everywhere starting yesterday morning. Benadryl wasn’t working. Zyrtec wasn’t working. I couldn’t stay awake. I felt like my throat was starting to close up, experiencing chest pain and body aches, so Jeff drove me to urgent care this morning. They gave me more Benadryl, a breathing treatment, steroids, and EpiPens. I came home and slept most of the day again.
I’m finally feeling awake enough to type out an update. It was going okay until it wasn’t. I’m staying home tomorrow to rest and manage this. We are still supposed to have the port placement early morning on Tuesday.
I got so tired at 8:30 that I went to bed. But I have been awake off and on for 2.5 hours now – insomnia, so lovely!
Things are going okay so far. I have had some waves of nausea despite the nausea meds. They pass quickly, so I haven’t needed to take extra. I was hyper and had super bouncy brain the day after infusion, thanks to the steroids, I’m guessing! That has calmed down, thankfully. I’m at work and that helps keep me busy and happy because I love my job.
I have a wig consultation on Saturday. I want to see what that’s all about because I’m told I will start to lose my hair soon. I don’t want to lose chunks of hair when I’m at work or out and about. I ordered beanies to have on hand just in case.
On Tuesday, I have surgery early morning to get my port for infusions placed. I’m familiar with that because my dad had one. I’m a little scared about it but it will be over the same day and I will be back at work the next day. It shouldn’t be a big deal.
I go in for chemo every three weeks. My next treatment is November 24.
I have been told that once the steroids stop in the next day or so, I might get lethargic and tired. But hey, maybe I can combat that with extra coffee (my favorite). I’m also trying to drink green tea (which is NOT coffee) in the afternoons when I want something else. Green tea is supposed to be good for me but I need to experiment more to find a combo I enjoy. And yes, I’m trying to stay hydrated with all of this, too!
❤️
One more thing – I got my genetic testing back and there was nothing of concern on there. That is good news for family to know.
Rosie's Cancer Journey 