Treatment: 6 of 12 – Ohh, we’re halfway there!

I couldn’t pass up the cliche of referencing Bon Jovi! But it’s the official halfway point! Only 6 more treatments to go and, so far, I have had 6 gloriously uneventful treatments. That’s definitely the best thing I could have hoped for so far and a trend I hope to continue.

In preparation for my new golf clubs, Sean and I decided to celebrate the night before my halfway point by going to Five Iron in the city. The first thing I learned is that golf simulators are a lot weirder than playing regular, outdoor golf. The second thing I learned is that I’m terrible at playing simulator golf (and so is Sean, it wasn’t like he did much better). I got pretty tired after just playing 9 holes, but maybe that’s because I was hungry and demoralized. Then we went to dinner at Duck Duck Goose , a french restaurant in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore. Sean had never been there before, but I had been there with my friends and had a pretty good experience. We shared some French onion soup, which I mostly had to eat with a fork because our waiter forgot to bring us spoons and then disappeared. For dinner, I had the duck confit and Sean had Steak Frites Au Poivre. They were going to give us complimentary glasses of champagne, but I had to opt for decaf cappuccino because I’m not supposed to drink alcohol before treatment. We also shared their croissant bread pudding for dessert. It was all very good and it was a nice night out.

When we got to the hospital on Wednesday, the outlook was not good for a speedy day. There were people waiting to be taken back, which is pretty unusual. And I noticed that Edward, the intake Tech, was not there, so I was guessing maybe they were understaffed. I had a totally new nurse, Lauren, and she was awesome. I have to say, I’ve had really great experiences with all of my nurses at Mercy. Each of them has their differences, but they are all very attentive. But they must have been understaffed, because Joann, who was one of my nurses during Treatment 4, helped her out by getting my port set up and drawing my blood for labs. She also filled me in on a visit they had from a Paxman Scalp Cooling consultant who had also been a breast cancer patient who used the product. The consultant provided tips that the nurses were encouraged to share with patients doing scalp cooling to help them use the product more easily and correctly. I actually did get a great tip for more easily pulling on the “1930s football” insulating cap. Joann also gave me a hard time for being on work teleconferences while I waited for my infusions to start.

So despite all the signs pointing to them being understaffed, things were moving fast! Amazingly, my labs were all back by 9:15 AM! That is probably a record! Lauren told me that usually patients get the MyChart notification of their test results before she is notified in the system of our results. My metabolic panel was still looking good as well as my magnesium. My CBC was low for white blood cells, red blood cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit. My mom said this is due to the inflammation caused by the chemo, so there’s not a lot to be done other than to stop taking the chemo. And we know I can’t do that just yet. Diets and supplements won’t really help with that, but it doesn’t hurt to eat more eggs and red meat! I can only hope that they just continue to be slightly below the line as I finish the last 6 sessions. She came by to let me know that my meds had been ordered, so we would get going pretty soon. My Herceptin infusion started around 10:05 AM and my Taxol ended at 12:47 PM. I’ve noticed that the Benadryl is hitting me much harder now. It’s almost impossible to stay awake or physically keep my eyes open. I probably could have stayed asleep in the infusion chair if no one disturbed me. I slept almost the entire 90 minute post-infusion cooling period as well after scarfing down my lunch. The lunches at the hospital aren’t really all that great, so I’ve just been bringing my own lunch. I chose PB&J, strawberries, blueberries and mixed veggies. Looks a lot like what we would pack Maddie for lunch!

Lauren was also nice enough to hook me up with some “Magic Mouthwash.” My doctor wrote me a prescription, but I was having trouble finding somewhere to fill it because a lot of the major pharmacies are no longer compounding pharmacies and they need to apparently mix together a couple of different liquids to make it. It’s supposed to help me with mouth ulcers and canker sores. She said if she ordered it like she was going to give it to me, they would bring it up and I could just go home with it. That was really nice of her.

We were on our way home around 2:30 PM, which is definitely the earliest so far! Personal Best! I’m much groggier when I leave and very exhausted. All I want to do is lay down. I was able to go on a walk with the family at night and we ate some delicious burgers with a fried egg on top (yeah B12 and folate!). I think because I got my Benadryl so early all of the sleepy effect wore off around bedtime and the Dexamethasone side effects took over which seems to be insomnia for me. I couldn’t fall asleep until 3 AM, but my body got a lot of rest and I felt very rested in the morning despite only getting 4 hours of sleep. Very weird.

I’m so happy to be halfway through chemo treatment and I’m very thankful for how I’ve been tolerating the treatment. I feel incredibly fortunate that I’ve still been able to exercise fairly normally, avoid any serious nausea issues and avoid any extreme fatigue. Maybe I can also give myself a bit of credit for doing a good job of setting expectations for myself and prioritizing my health for these three months to ensure I do tolerate treatment well. It does feel a bit intimidating to think about the last 6 weeks of treatment though, too. I know they are going to be harder than the first 6 weeks.