Taxol Building Up

I thought all 12 weeks of Taxol would be the same. I finished round 6 today. Last week I felt a lot more tired, mostly on Thursday and Friday.  I had a bit of numbness in my feet and a little numbness and tingling in my neck and face.  After chemo today, my pinky toes are feeling pretty numb. Actually a few of my toes. I'll have to talk to my doctor next week. If they go ahead as planned, it can cause permanent nerve damage. I don't know if they'll decide to lower the dose or skip a week or just plow through. We'll see. 

During chemo today, I asked the nurse about the side effects. She said it's most likely the accumulation over the last several weeks. I guess that means it might get worse (fatigue and nerve problems) as I go through the next 6 weeks. At least it isn't nausea! Oh actually, I did have a bit of nausea last week and had to take zofran. 

Let's cross our fingers that the next 2 weeks are easier. My 16 year old got an exchange student from Belgium for us to take for a week! He gets here on Friday (I have to be at the airport at 11:00 pm to get him) and he leaves super early the next Friday. We need to be able to drive them around a bit and show them some things around Utah. Hopefully I'll be up for it. Hopefully his group will keep him pretty busy. 

Nothing Exciting

I realize I haven't posted an update in quite a while. I guess that's because there isn't really a lot to update. All the Taxol chemo treatments are the same. So for 12 weeks straight, it's the same old thing. 

I feel fine. Most days I forget I'm even going through treatment. Unless I do too much or push myself. Then I get tired quickly. I still get 2-3 days of leg and joint pain. It can get pretty rough sometimes, but it isn't constant and it's manageable. I'll take it over nausea as a side effect!!

Every third week's chemo day is a long one because of the extra doctor appt and the extra IVs with the antibodies. I've been lucky enough to have good friends and family members willing to come and keep me company for part of it.

Right now I'm trying to gather information about the upcoming surgery. Most women have surgery within a couple of weeks after their diagnosis. Because my surgery is after chemo, I have the advantage of wrapping my head around what's happening and making the most informed decision for me.  And more time to adjust to the shock and reality of it all.

About a week after my last chemo treatment, May 5th, I'll have another MRI. After that, I'll meet with my surgeons. At least I'll understand about the options they give me so that I can decide. Surgery will probably be the beginning of June. About 3 weeks later, daily radiation treatments will starts. Then I'll have an entire year of going up once every three weeks for the antibodies. It looks like regular trips to Huntsman won't be over until July 2016! Then I have 5 years of tamoxifen. I'm not sure how often they'll scan me to make sure it hasn't come back anywhere. I guess I'll find out.

The plan is constantly in my brain and I'm just moving through the actions, trying to keep things as normal at home as I can. I'm really ok though. I feel a little bad for turning down all the help that is offered. But I'll need it again when it's surgery time I'm sure.