I Guess I'm Just Lucky...

     I went into chemo with a really great attitude. I had read all the possible side effects and fully expected to get a number of them. I was mentally ready. I could handle whatever came my way! However, I wasn't ready for what chemo gave me!

 

     I started chemo on Tuesday. The next day, I felt good enough to go to the store to get a few needed items. I shopped for a very short time and went home tired but feeling ok. That afternoon, I drove to RMCC to get the Neulasta shot which rebuilds white blood cells.

 

So far, so good... 

 

Wednesday night, things began to change.

 

     I was on the computer Wednesday evening when I reached up to touch my face. It was on fire!!! My face and ears looked like I had a BAD sunburn X 3 !!! That was the first side effect. I had been clued in about face flushing but was not prepared for what I saw in the mirror! Luckily, that only lasted for about 30 hours.

 

     Thursday, a number of side effect appeared in a fury. I felt achy but not horribly miserable (yet), had restless legs, a headache, bloody nose, nausea, diarrhea, tiredness, no appetite, food tasted funny when I did eat, strange smells, and just felt all around crummy. I just sat in our lounger or laid on the couch all day. I counted my blessings because I had not gotten the one side effect I dreaded...mouth sores.

 

     On Friday, the Neulasta hit me hard. The bone aches in my neck, back and shoulders were severe. Even thinking about moving hurt! My long bones (from wrist to elbow, knee to foot, etc.) were very achy and sore to the touch.

 

It must have been my lucky lottery day because what I dreaded most appeared...mouth sores! Not only did the sores appear in my mouth, but all the way down my throat too! (My oncologist reassured me that mouth sores were VERY unlikely when I told her about my fear of getting them! Lucky, I didn't buy a lottery ticket...Rather than giving me money, they would have come to take money AWAY!!!).

 

Now, I had all of the side effects I had prepared for plus a few more. I made it through the day lying on the couch, knowing that this was the worst day and tomorrow would be better! I did not sleep well Friday night but just thought it was from the aches and pains I was experiencing.

 

     On Saturday morning, I woke early (which is NOT typical!) and thought that I really should feel better than I did. I laid low, resting on the couch all day, trying to figure out why I was feeling so icky. My stomach had a very severe ache, like fire. The fire kept getting worse all day. Saturday night, I slept very little because my stomach was on fire and nothing helped to put the fire out.

 

     At 5:30 Sunday morning, I made my first trip to the bathroom. I had very severe diarrhea. (Sorry if this is to much info... If it is, you can stop reading here because there's more to come...PUN intended!!!) By early afternoon, I had made many more trips to the bathroom with severe diarrhea. Arland convinced me I should call the weekend emergency number they give to chemo patients. I reluctantly called and was connected to the oncologist on call. He said I need to go to the ER because it was not going to get better without intervention, so off Arland and I went to the ER.

 

     We spent the next four and a half hours in the ER. They accessed my port (MY numbing substance had only been on for 45 minutes so I was dreading that poke but it wasn't too bad) but the nurses there had a TERRIBLE time making it work. They couldn't get blood out of it so I had to have blood drawn from my arm (Ahem...isn't that one of the reasons WHY I got the port!!!???)

 

They struggled to make my port work for a long time which made that area sore since the port is not healed well yet. Finally, they were able to pump fluids into my port. I got a medication for nausea, a painkiller (by then I was writhing in pain because of the horrible fire in my stomach), and two bags of IV fluids. This wasn't how I envisioned Mother's Day to play out.

 

We got home at 9:30pm and by 10:00pm, I was in agony again. Sleep was limited. I fell asleep around midnight and woke at 1:30 because of the fire in my stomach. I just waited and prayed for morning to hurry and arrive because I knew I had an infusion of Herceptin in the morning. I hoped the nurses would take pity on me when they saw how much pain I was in. I had also emailed my oncologist in the middle of the night to update her about my horrible pain.

 

     Luckily, Anne, my oncologist's wonderful nurse read my email and called as we drove to the RMCC. She said that my oncologist was in Jamestown but that someone WOULD see me when I got to the infusion center. I could have kissed her for that news!!!

 

     I think the staff there realized how sick I was because they took one look at me and immediately took me to an infusion room with a bed. I was able to lay there and curl up until the CNP could see me.

 

The Herceptin infusion did not take precedence...my pain did. Thank goodness for the wonderful nursing staff because I was able to get some pain relief. Of course it couldn't be smooth nor easy! The ER staff left my port accessed when I left the ER (left the needle in the port so I wouldn't have to be re-stuck on Friday morning). When the infusion nurse tried to start the IV from the needle in my port, it didn't work at all! Nothing! The only solution was to take the needle out and re-poke, this time without my highly valued numbing cream. OUCH!!! That hurt! The infusion nurses access ports every day so thank goodness, this poke worked!

 

     I was seen by a CNP as was promised and was given a LOT of other meds. My simple hour and a half infusion appointment turned into a 5 hour and 45 minute appointment but I left with less pain which was a blessing after spending three plus days with such severe stomach pain.

 

     Oh yeah, I saved the best for last! I also got another diagnosis from the CNP on Monday morning.  After running some tests, she found out I also have a UTI!  What luck!!!

 

     The big question is, "What caused such long term, intense pain?" The on-call oncologist believes it was a severe and rare side effect (colitis...lucky me ...again!!!) of the Taxotere, one of the chemo drugs.

 

I am on additional meds to help keep the pain at bay and the meds work ok but I still am not anywhere near normal, nor am I ready to face another chemo infusion in a week and a half. I still have almost constant stomach discomfort but it is MUCH reduced from this weekend. That's why I had to abandon my blog for all those days. Today has been the first day that I could even begin to think about sitting up at my computer for any amount of time.

 

     The only good news about all of this is that there is one real side effect I haven't experienced! The side effect? It hasn't reduced my 0% chance of getting pregnant!!!!