Well since the local recurrence I needed a different chemotherapy plan so I saw two specialist oncologists and they made a new plan they think will give me the best outcome. There are so many different options, platinum chemotherapy, traditional chemotherapy and clinical trials. My oncologists felt that they would rather use a traditional dose dense chemotherapy which has been known to work rather than the new therapies which have been known to work better with metastatic disease not local disease which I have. I will just put my faith in the experts and pray for the best outcome.
They will be giving me three doses of AC chemotherapy followed by four doses of paclitaxal. Each dose will be two weeks apart at a high dose. It will be a very intense regime, and it will be hard on my body but as long as it works I am willing to do anything. I will also lose all my eyebrows and eyelashes on the dose dense which will be upsetting as they only thinned last time.
I have had my first cycle of AC on Friday March 18th and it went well but it was different to the TAC chemotherapy side effects I had last time. When I was on TAC I never felt sick until the day after chemotherapy. With this new chemo I felt sick only a few hours after they administered the chemo. The nausea is pretty hard to deal with and I had some milder reflux this time as well. I was not feeling well for day but the side effects began to ease off on Wednesday, so five days post chemo. On Thursday though my husband went back to work and I really struggled looking after my boys with the fatigue and the ruminant sickness. I might see if he can hold off going back to work until Friday this time as it was really difficult. By Saturday March 26th I began to have fevers, and on Sunday I went into the hospital with a fever of 38.3 degrees Celsius. I was 0.1 above the nuetropenic level so I begged them not to admit me to hospital and they didn't. After they preformed a million blood cultures, blood tests, chest xrays, meliodosis swabs and questions they let me go home as long I got a blood test in the morning and if my levels dropped I would have to come back for admission. I was lucky and my levels came up so I escaped hospital this time.
I have my second cycle of AC chemotherapy tomorrow Friday April 1st, I only wish it was a fools joke. Wish me luck and I hope it goes well and the side effects come and go quickly. I think the main thing I am a bit bummed about is that my hair has started to grow back in the 7 weeks between my TAC chemo and starting the new regimen so its just over a centimeter long and it will all fall out again, including my eyebrows and lashes. I will however enjoy not having to shave my legs again for a while :)
I promise to be more vigilant on my blogging, and keep you all updated!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Post Surgery
Well I am in desperate need of an update so this will be the first of a few posts today in order to get everyone up to speed on whats been happening.
My mastectomy went off without a hitch on February 14th, 2011. I only ended up getting a left breast mastectomy due to a lack of surgical time as well as some reconstruction considerations. I awoke from the mastectomy surgery in minimal pain because they gave me several deep tissue pain management injections while I was still under the anethstetic. I was very nauseous though, I have always had a bad reaction to the anethstetic. It took me two days to feel well enough to eat so they had me on IV nutrients. I refused all the morphine again, I just can't handle not being in control of my body. I tried an endone which I used to be able to tolerate just fine and still keep my wits about me, but chemo must have made me more susceptible to pain killers because even that made me ridiculously dopey so I tried to get by on half of one. The pain was pretty manageable though which was very surprising.
I had one surgical drain, other than it being annoying to carry around it wasn't too bad. I had the drain removed on the 3rd day so record time which was great. I have to give my body one thing, its really good at healing after surgery. It only really took me two weeks to get most of my range of movement back and to feel fairly normal.
When I got released from hospital we were in the middle of a cyclone, which was inconvenient to say the least. We have a Toyota Corolla which is fantastic for fuel economy but no so much for cyclonic driving conditions. So needless to say my husband couldn't pick me up from the hospital because of all the debris on the roads and closures so I had to spend the night on a chair in the hospital while trying to recover from a mastectomy. I was fairly upset, as mentally and physically I was dealing with something so big and I felt rather left in the dark.
Mentally recovering from the mastectomy was easier than I anticipated but still quite hard. The first week I tried to ignore it and I was very self conscious in hospital while I couldn't wear a prosthesis. The scar is huge, approximately 12 inches in length. My husband has been incredibly accepting and he never shudders, cringes or makes me in anyway feel uncomfortable which I am grateful for. I get upset if my mastectomy bra shows and that I can't wear all my old clothes because the bra is so ugly. I miss my pretty bra's and the ability to feel 'even'. I am happy my breast is gone though because now I feel safe, that cancer cannot come back there. I know it will be a long road to deal with all the emotional implications but I feel like it is attainable and I have already met with the plastic surgeon for my reconstruction so I am confident I will have all my confidence back soon after I finish cancer treatment.
My mastectomy went off without a hitch on February 14th, 2011. I only ended up getting a left breast mastectomy due to a lack of surgical time as well as some reconstruction considerations. I awoke from the mastectomy surgery in minimal pain because they gave me several deep tissue pain management injections while I was still under the anethstetic. I was very nauseous though, I have always had a bad reaction to the anethstetic. It took me two days to feel well enough to eat so they had me on IV nutrients. I refused all the morphine again, I just can't handle not being in control of my body. I tried an endone which I used to be able to tolerate just fine and still keep my wits about me, but chemo must have made me more susceptible to pain killers because even that made me ridiculously dopey so I tried to get by on half of one. The pain was pretty manageable though which was very surprising.
I had one surgical drain, other than it being annoying to carry around it wasn't too bad. I had the drain removed on the 3rd day so record time which was great. I have to give my body one thing, its really good at healing after surgery. It only really took me two weeks to get most of my range of movement back and to feel fairly normal.
When I got released from hospital we were in the middle of a cyclone, which was inconvenient to say the least. We have a Toyota Corolla which is fantastic for fuel economy but no so much for cyclonic driving conditions. So needless to say my husband couldn't pick me up from the hospital because of all the debris on the roads and closures so I had to spend the night on a chair in the hospital while trying to recover from a mastectomy. I was fairly upset, as mentally and physically I was dealing with something so big and I felt rather left in the dark.
Mentally recovering from the mastectomy was easier than I anticipated but still quite hard. The first week I tried to ignore it and I was very self conscious in hospital while I couldn't wear a prosthesis. The scar is huge, approximately 12 inches in length. My husband has been incredibly accepting and he never shudders, cringes or makes me in anyway feel uncomfortable which I am grateful for. I get upset if my mastectomy bra shows and that I can't wear all my old clothes because the bra is so ugly. I miss my pretty bra's and the ability to feel 'even'. I am happy my breast is gone though because now I feel safe, that cancer cannot come back there. I know it will be a long road to deal with all the emotional implications but I feel like it is attainable and I have already met with the plastic surgeon for my reconstruction so I am confident I will have all my confidence back soon after I finish cancer treatment.
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