1st round of Taxol

My good friend and confidant Tamy Scheurn picked me up at 9am this morning to head to the Scottsdale Mayo for round 5. I was feeling so anxious and not looking forward to my stay at the Mayo Suites ha ha. I love that I can be "real" with Tamy and tell her just what is on my mind, well actually I don't hold back much with anyone do I? I guess that is just who I am, I think for most of my life I held so many secrets that now as an adult I have learned to express myself, and sometimes it is to my dismay I fear I hurt people with my words and that is the last thing I ever want to do, I promise I am working on that one !!!
OK so back to Tamy I love her and I am able to really get down to the nitty gritty feelings with her, other than my husband it's always been difficult for me to open up to people. It has been so good for me to have to rely on someone to take me to chemo, Eric has to be at a mandatory meeting every Monday, plus I do not think he could handle it, he has a hard time seeing what I go through when I get home let alone the access of the PORT and the side effects during the actual chemo infusion. He takes me to MAYO on Thursdays and Fridays when I get labs drawn or need to actually talk to my doctor or PA.
The needle they use to access my PORT is the size in circumference to a nail and it is very painful going in, but important to have because it is accessed at least once a week, it is much better than them poking around for veins and after awhile those become hard to find and can collapse. I will usually put a cream on the PORT about an hour before I have it accessed, this helps to numb the area, but even with the cream it is painful and when I took Kayla with me on Friday to get some labs done by the look on her face it is not fun to watch, she almost fainted when she watched them access it and then pull out vile after vile of blood, she said it was the most blood she had ever seen at one time. I myself don't watch because I am a fainter also.
Good thing I have Tamy there she is a trained scrub nurse and has seen much worse, she too has a PORT and knows the pain, so I rely on her for strength and support.
I was told by my oncologist that I will have 4 rounds of Taxol, a new chemo drug they are trying on me. Today was my 1st round which puts me past my 1/2 mark whoo hooo.
Taxol is and anti-cancer chemotherapy drug. It is used for people who have breast, ovarian, lung, bladder, prostate, melanoma,esophageal and other tumor related VILLAINS.
Taxol side effects:
-Low Blood Counts, (white,red and platelets may temporarily decrease, this can put patients at a high risk for infections, anemia, and bleeding.)
-Continued Hair Loss (it can't get much worse)
- Pain in the joints and muscles (already experienced those with the neulasta shots)
-Pain in the lower back ( this started today)
-shortness of breath (been there done that)
-pressure in chest (never experienced this)
-abnormal heartbeat (had a bit of this too)
-Nausea and Vomiting (with Taxol it should be mild, but I have experienced the puking NOT FUN)
-Diarrhea (oh yeah....embarrassing but I have experienced sitting on the toilet while puking in the trash can)
-Mouth Sores ( I have these all along the way nothing new)
-Fever, facial flushing, chills, shortness of breath, or (hives within the 1st 10 minutes of injection--I did not experience this)
-Swelling of the feet or ankles (so far so good)
-Foot and hand tingles or sores ( I experienced this for about 4 days it felt like I was walking on glass a couple times)
-liver problems (so far nothing)
-low blood pressure (blood pressure has been normal)
-darkening of the skin (none)
-nail color change (I had the red fingernails the 1st and 4th week of chemo)
-you may experience drowsiness and dizziness (I have fainted a few times)
-wash your hands often (yes I do, my hands are so dry from anti bacterial wash)
-avoid direct sunlight YOU MUST WEAR SUNGLASSES AND SPF 15 WHEN EXPOSED TO SUNLIGHT (WOW)
-Get plenty of rest (I do)
-avoid alcoholic beverages---(DANG IT HA HA...I'm proud of the fact that I have never tasted alcohol in my life and I am not going to start now) (however I have been in so much pain that there have been days I wished I had some "special brownies", but if you bring them I don't want to know the ingredients, because I have also never tried that either hee hee)
- avoid contact sports and keep your workouts to walking only minimum, down the block and back (I look forward to the day when they say I can run to the end of the block)
**YOUR RISK OF INFECTION ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN BEFORE
**YOU MUST AVOID CROWDS OF PEOPLE ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH COLDS AND THOSE NOT FEELING WELL

Today I felt the Taxol entering my system like a black plague, every drip penetrated me, immediately I was sleepy, my back ached and my legs were so restless, I could not sit still, my nurse Tina called Dr. Northfelt to see if it was OK to give me some Ativan for the restlessness, he agreed and that seemed to help me. It was a long day, but I am excited that we are 1/2 way through. Tonight I am feeling tired and my stomach is aching, along with my back and legs, I think I will take a long hot bath and get ready for a long night. Tina told me if I was restless during the chemo treatment that I will be restless during the night, nothing new a lot of the side effects are what I have already been experiencing, so I will just put on my gloves and get ready for a continued fight.
I heard from Doctor PK, he called me just to see how I was doing. It was surprising but that is the type of Doctor he is, he cares about his patients even when they are not seeing him on a regular basis. (I will not see him until chemo is over) I have still been experiencing extreme pain in my breasts, I asked him about it because I wanted to make sure I am not just a wimp ha ha... he said that the aching will not go away until after chemo and radiation, because I have no tissue in my breasts and the lymph nodes were removed under my arm, I am not like normal women my breasts are extremely hard (like a brick wall) this causes pain especially if I use my arms a lot, and he explained because of the low blood cells being divided and taken away from my body there is nothing to protect my breasts from the aching and pain. He is such a great doctor. Just one more tender mercy in my life, I will always have a special place in my heart for him and doctor Northfelt.