Treatment 3 of 12: A Quarter There!

How treatment went

Today was a great day! I came in, went back to my room, they hooked up my port and drew my blood for labs. My lab results all came back by 9:30 AM, so they ordered my meds and I started my transfusions by 10:15 AM. That’s an hour and 45 minutes earlier than my last two treatments! Everyone must have shown up for their shift and the blood test machine was working in a timely fashion.

Also, the oncology nurse practitioner said that my labs are looking really good for someone who is going through chemotherapy. My white and red blood cells are slightly low and my hemoglobin is low, but not drastically. A big contributing factor to that is that I’m not getting the typical bad chemo side effects like nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. All of those side effects make it difficult for people to stay hydrated and eat foods that replenish your electrolytes which can drive down the things they are looking for in your labs. Depending on which things are low and by how much, they might give me extra transfusions like a magnesium supplement, for example. I’m actually not sure what other things they would give me. I suppose in the absolutely worst case scenario (or a serious scenario) they could give me a blood transfusion. Hopefully we can avoid that!

I was unfortunately in a windowless room today. Maybe I didn’t show up early enough or something. Or maybe my transfusion isn’t quite as long as some other people’s so they prioritize them for window seats. But I’m mostly thankful that my day went quickly and we got out of there on the earlier side. My whole ordeal was done by 2:45 PM. If I didn’t do the scalp cooling, I would have gone home around 1 PM. But if I keep most of my hair and the hair I lose grows back faster, then it will have been worth it.

My mom accompanied me today so it was her first time experiencing the whole process. There isn’t really a ton of things for anyone to do, but it’s nice to have some company and sometimes I’m not in an easy position to get a nurse. As an example, when I get my Taxol transfusion, I have to wet hair and the scalp cooling device is on my head and it makes me so freaking cold my body will shake! I can’t get up because I’m sedated on Benadryl, my head is tied to a super-cooling liquid machine, I have cooling mitts on my hands and cooling socks on my feet that I can’t walk on. So, my mom was clutch when I needed to ask the nurse for extra blankets. I literally wear a sweatshirt, my own blanket, a towel on my neck and shoulders and then about 4-5 hospital blankets on top!

Other goings-ons

This morning was a better day with Maddie. Last night she was probably overtired and in a grumpy mood. We went on a nice walk and Maddie rode her bike, but she started to lose her temper. She wouldn’t listen to Sean when he said we needed to turn around to go home and then she hit him. It was tense! Hitting is one thing we will not tolerate, but it was hard to deal with because we were so far away from home, we had to walk home and it felt like consequences were less immediately tied to the action. Sean told her the walk was over, I carried her bike and he carried her home while she continued to hit him. When we got home, she went straight up for a serious bath (no playing) and then right to bed. No stories or songs. She was pretty upset, but we told her she didn’t listen and she hit daddy and these were the consequences. We told her we loved her, but that her actions had consequences. She ended up falling asleep before 8 PM, so she was definitely tired. When she got up this morning she was in a good mood and rode her bike to school. Success!

Looking ahead

Today’s treatment means I’m 25% complete! It will probably feel more like a true achievement when I make it through this full week and through any potential side effects for this round. But I still made it through another uneventful treatment. I had no bad reactions to either the Herceptin or Taxol, which is excellent. At some point I will get another echocardiogram to ensure the Herceptin isn’t hurting my heart. Getting through this treatment is still something to be proud of and marks another milestone. Let’s hope and pray for another week of minimal side effects and lots of bike rides!