Only 2 More Treatments To Go

Another one bites the dust (I 🖤 Queen), and I now only have 2 treatments to go. Yahoo. Perhaps I could have chosen better verbiage, but too fucking bad. That's what came to mind. Done and done. I won't apologize.

I went for my second Red Devil treatment this morning. I learned a lot, I think. I met with my oncologist, Dr. Carlos Taboada, and he mentioned that although my white blood cell count numbers are good, my red blood cell count is borderline; I may need a blood transfusion. This is the same spot I was in last week. Fuck me, again. Let's just hope things improve. There's nothing I can do on my own but rest to get those numbers to come up. Ok, great. I will be getting an injection every day starting tomorrow through next Tuesday to get my white blood cell count up. Great. Again, long drives for 5 minutes.

He also mentioned something I didn't know about this Red Devil,. which makes me think he is reading my blog, or is a mind reader. Neither of which is clearly happening, but.........the reason for the Red Devil is to keep the cancer from ever coming back, or metastasizing. This is a bit of a game changer for me. Until today, I didn't have this knowledge, and now I think it's worth it more than ever. I finally get why I have to go through all this shit and why my body is too. 

Infusion time. In talking with the nurse who was taking care of me today, she mentioned that your blood cell counts, and all of your other numbers (there is about 50 or so they test for every time), drop substantially for everyone on Red Devil. Good to know. I didn't know last week or two weeks ago if I had done something to cause any of these issues (aside from the infection in my gums that is now long gone), and now I know for certain, it has nothing to do with me. Awesome. I asked about iron. Why? If you know anything about the body, iron is in your red blood cells. So I thought maybe if I took a supplement or the gave me iron through my port, maybe that would help? Nope. Unfortunately not. What I have going on has nothing to do with my iron. Bummer. Nice try though.

My treatment went well. I slept through most of it per my usual plan. It's great I got a nap in because I had to be up earlier than usual today. Win!

Let hope these next three weeks are better to me than the last 3 weeks were 🤞

The Red Devil Has Begun......

The Red Devil has begun. I don't know if it should be celebratory that I now have one done and only 3 more to go, or not. Treatment started on June 6, 2022. I only have it every three weeks. I would love to hurry and expedite this and get it over with, but that is not how this one works. 

Let me tell you what this shit is like. It has the name for a reason. It's a fucking nightmare is what it is. Bloating is back in full force. Splendid. I am more tired than ever. Like how much can I actually sleep? Is this a test? I have always liked sleeping and enjoyed it. But this is ridiculous. I am now sleeping 14+ hours a night, then taking naps some days too. Jesus Fuck. It's way more than excessive.

On my treatment day, I find out from my labs that my white blood cell count is lower than they would like to see, therefore, I have to go in every day that week for an injection to boost my white blood cells, then come Friday, they will again do lab work and see if the injections worked. OMG! I literally drive there every day, got a shot, and went on my merry way. It takes me 30-40 minutes to drive one way for less than a 5 minute visit. Ugh. Not a fan of this shit already. But, the good news in all this is that come Friday, my white blood cell count was up even higher than they anticipated. Woohoo. Done with that shit for now. I have the next two weeks to hopefully have somewhat of a normal life, right? Wrong. 

Week two after my treatment. It's Wednesday (9 days after my first Red Devil treatment), and my neck below my jaw is sore. My tongue is sore like I bit it. No idea initially what was going on, and it didn't take me long to figure it out. My gums were also sore. Sore like there is something stuck in them, which has now started an infection, and causing all the soreness. What the actual fuck? A few things run through my mind. One. I was told not to floss, mainly because the doctors don't want you doing even the tiniest of things that could cause an infection (fucking, really?!? How ironic). Because had I flossed like I have every day for years and years, I wouldn't be in this position. But here I am. I used my water pic and got whatever was in there out.  Two. I have no immune system because the chemo drugs have literally killed it. So I cannot fight this off. Not like your body would normally fight this type of thing off. Three. WTF is next? I called the office after hours, and the doctor on call wants to see me the next morning. Just what I was hoping for. Nope. Not at all. He also calls in an antibiotic for me to start taking right away.

Next morning, I am at the doctors office. Yippee. They again do blood work, and confirm the suspicion of an infection. My white blood cell count is dangerously low. So low that they give me an injection as a booster right away, and tell me I need to come back for another injection tomorrow, however, if my levels do not increase, I will have to be hospitalized. I guess they aren't fucking around, and I am not going to fight it. They really know what's best for me.

Friday morning, back at the office again, lab work done again. White blood cell count is up, and the levels are high enough that they are satisfied, but they want to see me again Monday morning because I received another injection and they want to monitor this because I won't have injections over the weekend. Ugh. Monday morning, back to the office. Again, lab work is done, and my white blood cell count is up, and they are happy at that. So all is well that ends well right? Wrong. Do you see this trend? Just when you think things are good, you get the good old go fuck yourself.

What's going on now? Lab work revealed that now my red blood cell count is low. The paperwork states "critically low".  So what does this mean? I may need a blood transfusion. WTF? No. The oxygen in my blood is basically not enough, and therefore your heart is working harder than it should be. Christ. Sounds like a fucking heart attack or stroke waiting to happen, but I don't ask about that. Instead, I am told I need to be on bedrest and sleep as much as I can because that is what'll do the best for me. More sleep. Really? Then she tells me if I have chest pains, shortness of breath or a rapid heart beat that I need to go to the ER. I swear I am not trying for a hospital stay. So bed rest lasted two days...........I am not meant to lay in bed all damn day and night.

With all the shit that has happened with my first Red Devil treatment, it really makes me want to say fuck this. No more chemo. Let's hope for the best to this point and move on to the next step. Yes, I only have 3 more to go, but this is a fucking nightmare to me. I won't be done until August with these treatments, and that just seems so far away.

Treatment # 12 Complete. Taxol Is Done.

Yahoo! I completed the first round of my chemo treatment, Taxol. 12 rounds of this shit. Yes, shit. Chemo is no fun. It's bogus. Dumping poison into your body, every week for 12 weeks straight. What a fucking delight.

At some point, I asked my oncologist about the side effects, and found out they are cumulative. Affirmative. They sure fucking have been. I was more tired each week. I had less energy every week, and that is in part why I wasn't keeping my blog up to date. I don't exactly know how to explain it, but something seemingly as simple as taking a shower has been a huge struggle for me. It's like I have to pep talk myself into it. A shower, really? Yes, really. Something that I have done every day without thinking twice about it until chemo. So with that being said, just imagine how monumental everything else in my life is. Dishes. Ya, right. Sweeping. Nope. Cleaning in general. Whatever. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not all horrible and not every day is a cluster fuck. Tuesday have historically throughout this process been my best day. The day after each chemo treatment. Does that seem weird? I would have thought, and I did initially, that I would feel awful right from the beginning, and immediately, but that is not the case even still. I am riding the steroids.........so Tuesday had become my favorite day of the week!

I am stoked that I have finished 12 rounds of chemo, and that Taxol is over, however, I have been warned that the worst is yet to come. Fuck me. I am not looking forward to the next 4 rounds, because that is all I have left, but what can I do? Nothing. Grin and bear it basically. Let's hope it's not as bad because during Taxol, I feel like I was extremely lucky and my side effects, although present, were minimal. 

Oh yes, side effects. So, I did some more reading in the groups I am in for breast cancer, and saw more posts about effective side effect supplements. Tart Cherry. Never heard of it. I bought some and tried them. I am a firm believer that they work. My side effects were even less than they have been to this point, which is great. In addition to that, I have gone to the pool and noticed that on the weeks I was there, I had no side effects, no neuropathy at all! Amazing. Who didn't know this? Me, that's who. And I made sure I shared that in my group, because anyone going through this deserves to know. I don't know if it the cooler water, the sunshine or a combination of both, but it is effective either way.

I have a two week break from chemo now because the doctor wants my white blood cell count up before I start the "Red Devil" chemo. That name in itself makes me skeptical already......

It's Been A While.

It's been a while since I updated or posted anything, and for those of you keeping up to date, my apologies.

It has been a shit show in a way, and I will get into all that in my next posts, so I can provide details on each.

Thanks for waiting it out for me to finally update this, and for those who personally reached out to me to see why I hadn't updated this. Here I am. I am back, and I will do better 😬