Done!

...with chemo at least.
   No Taxol #12 this week. The numbness has stayed about the same, but he kept asking if I was having pains in my fingers, as if that was going to determine whether or not I had the last treatment. Then again, for the last 6 weeks, he kept asking if I was still able to button buttons and tie shoelaces without problems (two completely avoidable tasks) as if THAT would determine whether to continue treatments. He did acknowledge the issues I've been having typing on my phone or a keyboard for the past few weeks (much more important!).
   Thankfully, he let me stop so I'm officially done with chemo! And I'm two weeks out from the last treatment, so I've been feeling much better. I even got on my exercise bike last night, since my legs were already sore (thanks to a combination of six months of not moving, some leftover Taxol side effects, and those flu-like symptoms associated with Herceptin). But after about 20 minutes, my feet went numb. So I'm really glad we didn't push those last two Taxols. Hopefully all this numbness and tingling will start to go away, along with these other crappy side effects. My skin's started cracking and peeling because it's so dry. I'm still waiting for my constantly runny/bloody nose to get better. The hair on my head's definitely grown out at least an inch, but it's mostly on the top and in the back. My forehead looks huge now because most of the hair in the front has thinned or fallen out. I still haven't shaved my armpits or my legs in weeks, which is nice and all, but my eyebrows are disappearing too, so I could use some hair growth. My chest pain mostly went away last week, but in the last few days, my shoulder starting hurting again, but this time on the left side. I've been popping ibuprofen and that seems to help.
   The nurses printed off a copy of my blood counts (since I actually remembered this time), and they're slowly going back up. My hemoglobin was 9.7 and platelets went up to 127 (almost normal). But then I noticed the "Gender" on the printout says "Male". I know I don't have as many female hormones running through my body anymore and I'm about to get my boobs cut off, but seriously? They fixed it right away, but I wonder how long it's been like that and if it's affected anything...
   I also called Dr. K's office last week to reschedule my surgery. It's now for Tuesday, March 20, and I have a pre-op appointment in two weeks for any last-minute questions. I really don't think it'll be that bad, since they aren't ripping out any lymph nodes this time, and especially in comparison to six months of chemo hell (most of which is a blur thankfully). I'm just ready to be done with all this.
   I'm still getting the Herceptin, but now it's every three weeks, so my next appointment isn't for a while. My next MUGA heart scan is scheduled for February 6th. Speaking of never-ending appointments, we had to reschedule the one for the dogs, but Zeus hasn't been chewing on his feet lately, and instead has been getting into the trash and tearing everything up to occupy himself. Guess that's a trade-off?
   And Skye's still fat.

Skipped Taxol #11

    Treatments 7-10 of Taxol were pretty boring, just the usual tiredness and some numbness in my fingers. But last week sucked. I started to get some chest pains Saturday. No worries because it only hurt if I breathed or moved, not that I need to do those things on a regular basis. I popped some Tylenol and ibuprofen which is what the doctor told me to do when I had chest pain from the Neulasta shots. It helped a little, but it got a lot worse the next day, so I started taking Vicodin leftover from my surgery. Apparently Vicodin and Benadryl are two drugs that no longer help me sleep.
    I called the doctor Monday, since it had only gotten worse and the Vicodin was just making me feel sick. They ordered some kind of CT scan on my chest for later that day. When we got there, the nurses asked if there were any chance I could be pregnant. Doesn't anyone watch "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant"? Even though I had a whole list of evidence of why I SHOULDN'T be pregnant, they got really worried when I said I couldn't remember the date of my last period (thanks chemo!), so worried in fact that they almost wouldn't let me do the chest scan. Really? They were more concerned about a nonexistent fetus with a chemo-induced tail than the fact that I was having severe chest pains and needed a scan to make sure I didn't have a life-threatening problem with my lungs that would have killed the fetus anyway? Good to know the medical community's priorities when it comes to women of childbearing age.
    When I FINALLY convinced them that NO I'm not pregnant, they gave me an IV to insert the dye for the scan. I asked if they could use my port, but they said it had to be a "Power Port" and I had to have a card identifying it. Funny because when I asked about the three little alien bumps coming out of my skin above the port, they said it was like that so other facilities could use it too (easily identifiable). I'll ask the doctor about it next week. Instead, the nurses had to do an IV in my arm, and she so kindly told me, since the dye goes in really fast, they have to use a larger needle. Sweet. But even better when was they put the dye in later, and they warned me that it'll make me feel really warm and like I've peed my pants. "Warm" was an understatement, but it was a really strange feeling. Luckily, the scan itself only took a few minutes. They sent the results to Dr. C and sent me back out to the waiting room. Then they came back out to tell us to go home, everything was normal on the scan. Ok, but my chest still hurt?
    So I toughed it out that night and the next morning. Then I had a really bad wave of nausea and dizziness and heat hit me on the way to the hospital for my appointment. That combined with the severe pain in my chest and not being able to breathe was super fun. Thankfully the doctor has some sense and wasn't going to try to give me chemo that day, but I think it was more due to the numbness in my fingers than the chest pain. But I would've flipped out if he had tried. I think my body has maxed out on chemo at this point. He has no idea what's going on with my chest pain, because everything seemed normal. I think the chest pain's just the same thing I've had multiple times before (costochondritis) and the stress of six months of chemo made it worse. I asked the doctor if it is the same problem as before, won't radiation make it worse? He said it's just a "necessary evil" and that I'll basically just have to deal with it. Then again, he's not in charge of radiation, so I'll discuss it with the radiation oncologist before they start zapping me. For now, he told me to take some ibuprofen and see if that helps. It's definitely helping more than the Vicodin did.
    Besides the crappy week from the chest pain, my fingers and toes have just gotten worse. I noticed within the last week that when I start walking sometimes, both my feet will hurt and tingle a little. And when I dried my hands on a towel, I noticed my palms really tickled, but not in a good way. My fingertips feel really dry and puffy and it's way more noticeable all the time now instead of just when I use them. So I might be done with chemo. We'll see next week if the numbness is any better and if I can get the last treatment. I asked if the chemo'll be any less effective by stopping early, but since I've had 10 out of 12 treatments, Dr. C says it should be fine at this point. Plus, I'm kind of sick of chemo. I just got the Herceptin yesterday. We were out of there within 45 minutes of seeing the doctor. Good thing, because having an appointment after 9 means they run out of seats. Even though the Herceptin alone should be nothing compared to chemo, my lower legs and the top of my feet really hurt last night, so I guess muscle aches are still a problem.
    I also told the doctor I think I'm having hot flashes, and he said it's likely the chemo's put me in menopause and my ovaries have stopped functioning (even though my mother didn't believe that we both could be having hot flashes). That would explain the missing period. I noticed a few weeks ago I'd randomly get really hot at night, but I thought it was just because our second-floor bedroom is a furnace. But then it started happening in the middle of the day too. For someone who's usually cold ALL THE TIME, random waves of heat are kind of alarming, and then afterward, I'm even colder.
    On my To Do list: I'll need to have another MUGA scan to make sure the Herceptin isn't ruining my heart, call Dr. K to reschedule my surgery to an earlier date, call Tricare to fix their stuff as usual, pass the first round of tests coming up in my freshman-level classes, and buy some 100% cotton sheets.