Chemo Round 5

Thursday June 24th, chemo treatment number 5.
This was a stressful day. Richard and I pulled into the parking spot at Kaiser and I started crying. "I don't want to do this. I want to quit." So we sat there for a little bit until I had some composure back.
Even though Dr. Richert-Boe and the nurses say its easier with the two new drugs. I was so sick last time, that that's all I can imagine feeling again.

This time my Dr was on vacation, so I met with Dr. Chandler. He was very nice, looked at my surgery scars,  asked me several questions about how I am feeling, (started crying again) and he was understanding. Suggested some other therapies like yoga, prayer, walking, reading, painting etc and said its OK to feel how ever I feel. If I feel like crying, than cry, if I feel down that's OK too. No one knows what chemo is like unless you have been through it.
He than addressed a few questions to Richard. Being the spouse is hard, watching your loved one not only go through the physical part of chemo but the emotional part too.
Dr. Chandler said the test results from the MUGA scan came back really good. He said it tests the strength of the heart valves. No one is perfect and had 100, mountain climers have about 90 and mine started at the first test with 86 and I am now a 84 which he said is really good. He also suggested another test in about 2 months.

I than went and picked out my chair. Today was a loooooooooong day. My appointment with the Dr. was at 8:30am and I got to my chemo chair at about 9am. that's not unusual. But I left for the day at 5pm. I was there  for 8 1/2 hours this time. They told me it was going to be a long day ... but not this long!

Started the two new drugs. But first they gave me some benadryl and prilosec. Than all of a sudden I got to feeling sick like I was going to puke.  So they pulled the curtains on both sides of my area just so they nurses station could see me which was nice privacy. And I kept them closed the whole time I was there. The nurses were running around looking for a little puke tray. And sure enough  I puked. Once that was over, I was feeling a little better.  I think it was just too stressful in my mind and I was too nervous. I felt more nervous than I did the first couple times I went.

After that, they gave me some Lorazepan for stress. So we had to wait about 30 minutes before they started the  first chemo drug.
Richard brought me a Subway sandwich for lunch which I just nibbled on for while. A little leery to eat the whole thing.

The Pharmacist came by and suggested that I eat foods that are soft and easy to digest. Nothing too spicy, or acidic like spaghetti sauce, Mexican, tomato based. Not sure if I can do that!

The first drug is Taxol. And to make sure my body accepts it OK with out any reactions the IV is really really really slow for the first 30 minutes than a little faster after that.
Once that drug was done, they gave me Herceptin. This is not really a chemo drug, but a synthetic hormone made from the Yew tree. This is because my cancer tested positive for the HER2 hormone.
Once both drugs were done they had me just sit there for about 30 minutes to watch for any reactions.
No pink or blue or green urine with any of these drugs!

Richard brought me this morning and stayed for  a little while. Binnie stopped by for a short time. Than mom and my cousin Tim who is visiting from Minnesota stopped by. Richard came back and he left with Tim. Mom stayed and took me home.
I had a lot of visitors today and I needed it since it was such a long day.

I have been going every three weeks for chemo treatment. I will continue that, but add in a weekly visit every Thursday for the Herceptin. I will do this for the rest of the chemo time, which is less than 12 weeks, since I am more than half way done now, than I will every go every three weeks for a year just to get the Herceptin.
Still a long road ahead of me but getting closer to the end of the chemo.. only 3 treatments left now.
I figure I should be done  the first part of September.