Amazing. On Friday, I had my 16th round of chemo. Again, I had a dose of Taxol, with Herceptin and Pamidronate (for my bones).
I haven't posted much about my chemo in a while for two reasons. One is that, for a number of reasons (not readily apparent to me), I wasn't scheduled for chemo at the end of September. Then my next chemo was delayed to a Monday due to a mixup about when we returned from Disney. I had just more than a five week gap between treatments. The up-side of it was that I'm on a new three-week schedule that doesn't have me getting chemo the day before my nephew's wedding in Calgary. I am very glad that I can go with my family to the wedding. In addition to a family reunion on my husband's side, it will also turn into a high school reunion with the same BFFs who came to visit me last November for my birthday.
The other reason I haven't blogged for a while about my chemo is that it's going quite well. Knock wood. This round, I had very little in the way of side effects. There was no nausea. I had less fatigue than usual. The only real problem is that Taxol can give you diarrhea, while the stomach medicine Zofran can cause constipation (as can my pain medication). This round, I was able to experience both.
Also, sometime in the last couple of weeks, my swelling went down. I could wear my wedding rings for the first time in nearly a year! My watch is now spinning around my wrist in a very annoying fashion.
So the chemo itself isn't hitting me too hard, but I realize that what has depleted my batteries is the fact that I've been on chemo for a year and had cancer for a year. I am coming to realize that I'll ever be the same.
More on this, in my next installment, "Power Outages, Chemo-Style."
Showing posts with label swollen ankles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swollen ankles. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Tuesday, Pill Day
This is my routine every Tuesday morning, I take an hour to organize my pills. OK, it doesn't take that long, it just feels that way. And when I started on this cancer journey, it probably did take a full hour to get a handle on all these pills. Now, I actually know what they are for (pretty much).
I have two pill organizers on the go. One is a seven-day organizer for the pills I take before getting out of bed. These include Dilaudid, both the long-acting and the fast-acting, to ease the pain of having been still, asleep for eight hours. You wouldn't believe how long it can take me to get my hands and knees working. I also take a Lyrica pill, the first of three I take during the day. The last "first thing" pill is Prevacid, an anti-acid pill to be taken a half hour before eating. There's not much more I could fit in this little container.
The second pill organizer has a pull-out section for each day and four compartments, for morning, noon, evening and bedtime. In the morning, I take a water pill for my still swollen feet. By the way, I can usually get into three or four pairs of my shoes now. I take some Vitamin D for my bones, which need all the help they can get. Then there is the first of four Naprosyn (Aleve) pills for the day. They help quite a bit with the pain from my spinal fractures. I also take one Maxerand, also for my stomach. I should take it a little before I eat, but that never quite works out. What else? Oh, for my chemo day and the following day, I take a Zofran in the morning. It helps to prevent chemo-related stomach trouble, but is terribly constipating. I recently stopped taking Metoprolol in the mornings. I was given it in the fall when my blood pressure was high, back when I was in the hospital. My blood pressure seems to have returned to it's normal low, so I was able to stop that pill.
My afternoon pills used to be lighter. The second Lyrica comes at two o'clock. But now I'm taking a Naprosyn with lunch. And, because of the constipating effects of the Dilaudid and Zofran, I take two stool softener and one senna laxative. Everyday. I don't like taking these pills everyday, but I have to admit that my body just doesn't function properly on its own anymore. This is one of the things you don't realize about cancer, and it probably happens with other chronic, life-threatening diseases: half the pills you take are to deal with the side effects of the other pills you take. Argh.
At suppertime, there is another Naprosyn, plus the long-acting Dilaudid.
Finally at bedtime, another Naprosyn (with a snack to protect my tummy), another Lyrica, and an Ativan to help me sleep. When I first started treatment, the steroids they were giving me were causing me to wake up every hour or so through the night. While I'm off them, I now have trouble falling asleep without the Ativan. That was never a problem before I got sick.
In addition to these, I take a Tums morning and evening as a calcium supplement. And I take the fast-acting Dilaudid as necessary during the day for pain. The dose I now take doesn't seem to affect me, beyond handling the pain. Nevertheless, I don't take the full dose if I'll be driving, just in case I might get a little loopy.
So that's my pill regimen these days. At first, I needed a complex spreadsheet to sort it out. Now, sadly, it's easy for me.
You know, they tell you to drink a lot of water when you're in chemo. You pretty much have to, with all the pills to take!
P.S. Sweetie, if I suddenly get sick, you can use this blog post to make up my pills for me. Oh, I forgot that I've started talking like the nurses and referring to all these damn things by brand name though they usually come from the pharmacy with the generic name. I better do up another spreadsheet...
P.P.S. I find it odd that the blog software's spellcheck doesn't recognize the word "blog."
I have two pill organizers on the go. One is a seven-day organizer for the pills I take before getting out of bed. These include Dilaudid, both the long-acting and the fast-acting, to ease the pain of having been still, asleep for eight hours. You wouldn't believe how long it can take me to get my hands and knees working. I also take a Lyrica pill, the first of three I take during the day. The last "first thing" pill is Prevacid, an anti-acid pill to be taken a half hour before eating. There's not much more I could fit in this little container.
The second pill organizer has a pull-out section for each day and four compartments, for morning, noon, evening and bedtime. In the morning, I take a water pill for my still swollen feet. By the way, I can usually get into three or four pairs of my shoes now. I take some Vitamin D for my bones, which need all the help they can get. Then there is the first of four Naprosyn (Aleve) pills for the day. They help quite a bit with the pain from my spinal fractures. I also take one Maxerand, also for my stomach. I should take it a little before I eat, but that never quite works out. What else? Oh, for my chemo day and the following day, I take a Zofran in the morning. It helps to prevent chemo-related stomach trouble, but is terribly constipating. I recently stopped taking Metoprolol in the mornings. I was given it in the fall when my blood pressure was high, back when I was in the hospital. My blood pressure seems to have returned to it's normal low, so I was able to stop that pill.
My afternoon pills used to be lighter. The second Lyrica comes at two o'clock. But now I'm taking a Naprosyn with lunch. And, because of the constipating effects of the Dilaudid and Zofran, I take two stool softener and one senna laxative. Everyday. I don't like taking these pills everyday, but I have to admit that my body just doesn't function properly on its own anymore. This is one of the things you don't realize about cancer, and it probably happens with other chronic, life-threatening diseases: half the pills you take are to deal with the side effects of the other pills you take. Argh.
At suppertime, there is another Naprosyn, plus the long-acting Dilaudid.
Finally at bedtime, another Naprosyn (with a snack to protect my tummy), another Lyrica, and an Ativan to help me sleep. When I first started treatment, the steroids they were giving me were causing me to wake up every hour or so through the night. While I'm off them, I now have trouble falling asleep without the Ativan. That was never a problem before I got sick.
In addition to these, I take a Tums morning and evening as a calcium supplement. And I take the fast-acting Dilaudid as necessary during the day for pain. The dose I now take doesn't seem to affect me, beyond handling the pain. Nevertheless, I don't take the full dose if I'll be driving, just in case I might get a little loopy.
So that's my pill regimen these days. At first, I needed a complex spreadsheet to sort it out. Now, sadly, it's easy for me.
You know, they tell you to drink a lot of water when you're in chemo. You pretty much have to, with all the pills to take!
P.S. Sweetie, if I suddenly get sick, you can use this blog post to make up my pills for me. Oh, I forgot that I've started talking like the nurses and referring to all these damn things by brand name though they usually come from the pharmacy with the generic name. I better do up another spreadsheet...
P.P.S. I find it odd that the blog software's spellcheck doesn't recognize the word "blog."
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Chemo Update: February 19, 2012
I had my chemo treatment again last Friday. As promised, the doctor reduced the Taxol dose by 20% and I believe he changed the dose of steroids given before the Taxol.
The session went as normal. What was new was that my mom and dad came to visit, to see what the chemo was like. They left as the Benedryl drip was ending. At that point, Geoff came in and watched me sleep through the rest of the session.
Early in session, I noticed a dietitian speaking to some of the other patients. Given the lost appetite I've been suffering after chemo, I may ask to meet with her myself.
That said, I haven't yet noticed any loss of appetite since Friday's chemo. From the previous week's chemo session, my appetite left on Saturday and returned on Thursday. I expected it to be gone by now, but it's not. In fact, I really enjoyed my cereal for breakfast this morning.
The other thing that is new is that I noticed this morning that the swelling in my feet was virtually gone. You wouldn't have believed the swelling I had on the tops of my feet. But now I have a normally shaped foot. You can almost see my ankle bone too! This is incredible. In fact, I went over to the scale and was amazed to see that my weight had dropped about 12 pounds since I was at the doctor on Wednesday. That's really something! A lot of water gone.
I have one non-chemo update for you as well. I've virtually stopped using the walker in the house. And I've been forgetting my cane here and there, which means I can walk short distances without either cane or pain! To be truthful, I can't get very far without some pain in my lower back, but I feel like I have regained the strength I had in November before the pelvic fracture and my hospitalization. Again, this is great progress.
Pretty much all good news. Hope that pleases you as much as it does me!
The session went as normal. What was new was that my mom and dad came to visit, to see what the chemo was like. They left as the Benedryl drip was ending. At that point, Geoff came in and watched me sleep through the rest of the session.
Early in session, I noticed a dietitian speaking to some of the other patients. Given the lost appetite I've been suffering after chemo, I may ask to meet with her myself.
That said, I haven't yet noticed any loss of appetite since Friday's chemo. From the previous week's chemo session, my appetite left on Saturday and returned on Thursday. I expected it to be gone by now, but it's not. In fact, I really enjoyed my cereal for breakfast this morning.
The other thing that is new is that I noticed this morning that the swelling in my feet was virtually gone. You wouldn't have believed the swelling I had on the tops of my feet. But now I have a normally shaped foot. You can almost see my ankle bone too! This is incredible. In fact, I went over to the scale and was amazed to see that my weight had dropped about 12 pounds since I was at the doctor on Wednesday. That's really something! A lot of water gone.
I have one non-chemo update for you as well. I've virtually stopped using the walker in the house. And I've been forgetting my cane here and there, which means I can walk short distances without either cane or pain! To be truthful, I can't get very far without some pain in my lower back, but I feel like I have regained the strength I had in November before the pelvic fracture and my hospitalization. Again, this is great progress.
Pretty much all good news. Hope that pleases you as much as it does me!
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Update: February 15, 2012
I'm overdue to update you on last Friday's chemo session. Plus, I met with my oncologist this morning and got some unexpected news.
First, chemo. It went pretty much the same way the last couple of sessions have gone. The chemo itself is fine. Afterwards, though, I end up tired and lose my appetite. I haven't eaten much since Friday. Even my favourite things, like Saint Hubert chicken and cream of wheat, I could only eat a bite or two of them. My cousin Sam mailed me some of my grandmother's best cookies, genetti. Even the genetti I have to eat slowly to get them down. It's a shame. Still, considering how difficult chemo is for so many patients, I know I'm getting off easy. I can't really complain. And that is why my appointment with my oncologist was somewhat surprising.
His focus is on maximizing my quality of life while controlling my disease. He wanted to get my liver metastases under control and then reduce my chemotherapy. The last CT scan showed that the liver mets have shrunk significantly, but it appeared that the bone mets had grown. My oncologist pointed out that it takes months for bone mets to heal, and for the healing to be visible on a scan. His interpretation of the CT results is that the bone mets may have grown while my chemo was interrupted in November/December, but they are probably responding as well as the liver mets are -- we just can't see it yet. He's now going to reduce the amount of Taxol I'm getting by 20% to improve my quality of life (that is reduce the extent of tiredness and lost appetite I'm experiencing). On another note, he will be reducing the amount of steroids I'm getting with the Taxol, which should reduce my swelling.
In a couple of months, he'll repeat the CT scan and if the results are good, he expects to cut my Taxol to once every three weeks, rather than twice. Eventually, if my results remain good, after another couple of months, he'll cut the Taxol entirely and stick with the Herceptin for "maintenance."
He also mentioned that the liver is the most important organ in my treatment, the one he was most concerned with controlling. This makes me feel much better, given the dramatic results I had on the liver mets. I had been worried about the bone mets, but his comments this morning made me less concerned. I just have to be more patient with the bone mets. The fact that my pain levels are greatly reduced is probably a more accurate reading on my bone health than the CT scan was. That's good.
First, chemo. It went pretty much the same way the last couple of sessions have gone. The chemo itself is fine. Afterwards, though, I end up tired and lose my appetite. I haven't eaten much since Friday. Even my favourite things, like Saint Hubert chicken and cream of wheat, I could only eat a bite or two of them. My cousin Sam mailed me some of my grandmother's best cookies, genetti. Even the genetti I have to eat slowly to get them down. It's a shame. Still, considering how difficult chemo is for so many patients, I know I'm getting off easy. I can't really complain. And that is why my appointment with my oncologist was somewhat surprising.
His focus is on maximizing my quality of life while controlling my disease. He wanted to get my liver metastases under control and then reduce my chemotherapy. The last CT scan showed that the liver mets have shrunk significantly, but it appeared that the bone mets had grown. My oncologist pointed out that it takes months for bone mets to heal, and for the healing to be visible on a scan. His interpretation of the CT results is that the bone mets may have grown while my chemo was interrupted in November/December, but they are probably responding as well as the liver mets are -- we just can't see it yet. He's now going to reduce the amount of Taxol I'm getting by 20% to improve my quality of life (that is reduce the extent of tiredness and lost appetite I'm experiencing). On another note, he will be reducing the amount of steroids I'm getting with the Taxol, which should reduce my swelling.
In a couple of months, he'll repeat the CT scan and if the results are good, he expects to cut my Taxol to once every three weeks, rather than twice. Eventually, if my results remain good, after another couple of months, he'll cut the Taxol entirely and stick with the Herceptin for "maintenance."
He also mentioned that the liver is the most important organ in my treatment, the one he was most concerned with controlling. This makes me feel much better, given the dramatic results I had on the liver mets. I had been worried about the bone mets, but his comments this morning made me less concerned. I just have to be more patient with the bone mets. The fact that my pain levels are greatly reduced is probably a more accurate reading on my bone health than the CT scan was. That's good.
Monday, 2 January 2012
What I Need to Do Every Day
- Take my medication: at breakfast, lunch, 2:00, supper, 8:00 and bedtime. It's easy to forget a few of them.
- Take my temperature to be sure I don't have a fever again.
- Walk with a walker, or in a tight space a cane.
- Do my arms and leg exercises. No weights.
- Decide whether to wear a wig, a hat, a scarf or go commando.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Put on a LOT of skin cream. Where I had radiation the on my back and pelvis is finally getting better, but my legs and scalp are still very, very dry.
- Put on over-the-knee compression stockings to try to stem the swelling in my feet and calves.
- Put my feet up for a few hours.
- Check whether I'm due for the home-care nurse to put on a new cartridge of painkiller on my pain pump.
- Each Friday: have the home-care nurse change the PICC line cover that connects the IV to my left arm and bloodstream; change the tubing on my pain pump.
- Pray.
- Meditate and visualize my healing. This is another thing that I've found harder to find time for. If I leave if for the end of the day, I fall asleep before I get very far into it. I need to make time for this. Whether it works or not, it gives me a tremendous feeling of wellbeing and of being loved and cared for by this world and the next.
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