In some ways I was prepared for my chemotherapy.

My mastectomy had been a breeze – I healed quickly and is was not nearly as bad as I anticipated.

For chemo, my family planned to step in and had a round the clock schedule of care for me the week of treatment.

The house was tidy. I finally had a post-mastectomy bra that worked.

Meals were still stockpiled in our garage freezer.

Perhaps the dreaded “chemo brain” would bypass me altogether! One can wish.

However, in other ways I was not quite as prepared as I thought….

What Chemo for Breast Cancer is Really Like: Round 1 & 2

First things first…..

I’m on 4 rounds of Adriamycin (aka “AC” or the “red devil”) which will be followed by 12 rounds of Taxol.

Each round of AC is given to me every other week. After 8 weeks, I will begin Taxol which is a once a week treatment.

All in, I will have 16 chemo treatments.

According to my doctor, these first 8 weeks of AC are the worst. I developed an odd side effect after the first two rounds.

Now, I want to give you a non-sugar coated view of what this chemo regimen is really like. Please understand that I am not complaining; my purpose is to help other Pink Sisters who may be embarking on this chemo schedule and are looking for information.

I literally lose an entire week and a half of my life following treatments of AC. That’s ok, because I know this dreadful poison is actually saving my life. Still, it is an eerie feeling to not recall an entire week with clarity. I had someone with me around the clock the first few days after treatment.

My 4 Chemo Nausea Medications

A strong tablet taken once I arrive at the doctor’s office. It is so strong, in fact, that it is a controlled substance and lasts two weeks.
A shot that is administered into my abdomen prior to treatment.
Two other prescription medications that I take orally as needed once home. I always need them! 🙂

THEY WORK! I have not been physically ill.

Chemo Round 1

My husband, mother in law and I met with my oncologist prior to the first round of chemo. We were then seated in the treatment area. The nurses were amazing.

AC is such a toxic drug that nurses must wear protective outwear when administering it to patients.

And, it cannot be given as a “drip” IV. It has to be manually pressed into my port. Seeing the HUGE bright red tubes of AC was quite scary…..this was the moment when I realized I was in no way mentally prepared to “have cancer”.

The nurse told us to keep vigil on my temperature once we returned home: if I reached 100.5 then I was to call them and go immediately to the closest ER.

Guess what? I think it was on Wednesday that I started running a fever….but thankfully it leveled at 100.3. No ER visit for this family!

I was quite nauseated but never became physically ill. That said, I slept with a towel on my pillow and a bucket by my bed for 8 straight nights.

What I Am Eating During Round 1

Apples
Bananas
Dry Toast
Peanut Butter Toast (made with organic peanut butter)
Peanut Butter Crackers (homemade w/organic peanut butter)
Jello cups
Applesauce
Gatorade / Sprite / water with lemons

For some reason, I have a strong aversion to hot or warm foods. Just thinking of them (even right now!) makes me super queasy! And water tastes really awful now. I’m not sure why, but I can only stomach flavored beverages. Of course, massive hydration is key especially right after the treatment. Bless my family for cutting up tons of lemons!

Also, I cannot eat with silverware. Strange, right? There is something about the metallic taste that makes food unappealing to me. So, plastic cutlery is in play at our house!

How I Feel During Round 1

I feel as if I am constantly on coming off of the most intense roller coaster EVER. Big time motion sickness! This lasted for almost a full week for me. Sitting up in bed was even tricky. My mother in law and husband were always close by in case I needed help walking to the restroom. I have not been alone, which is a blessing.

Here are some details about the photo above:

The pic of me in the chair was taken on March 26, 2018 and was my first chemo infusion. After this round, right before my 2nd dose, I felt better and decided to cut off my hair before it fell out everywhere. The short hair selfie pic was taken on my way to my second treatment, I think. Finally, the bottom right pic was taken maybe 4 or 5 days after my super cut cut! My hair was really, really falling out all over the house, so my husband gave me a buzz cut. (photo bottom right.)

AC Chemo Update

June 5, 2018

Hi everyone!

Ok, full disclosure, I never got to write about AC Rounds 2, 3 & 4!

I had the best of intentions….I really wanted to post bi-weekly updates on my progress for you during AC chemotherapy. The post above was written the weekend before my second dose. Honestly, I do not remember writing it for you. The one thing AC chemo took from me was my short term memory. I’d always heard about “chemo brain” but thought it was more of an affectionate expression.

Nope. It’s real.

So real, in fact, that I do not go into doctor’s examination rooms alone. I may not remember what I was told!

Aside from memory lapses, the reason I could not keep up with the this blog for you was that chemo was much, much more than I expected. I did my research on AC chemo, so I thought I was prepared. But I was not…at all.

The reality of the treatment hit me, and updating Instagram and keeping up on Facebook was about all I could do.

Rounds 2, 3 & 4

I did really, really well with AC chemo all things considered. I never needed an emergency room visit during treatment, which is almost standard with AC.

Rounds 2, 3 & 4 are a blur to me.

The mouth sores, oral thrush, hair loss, nausea, etc. all came into play. I rarely left my bed the week of AC treatment. Insomnia was an issue, too.

Somewhere between Round 2 & 3 I developed a side effect that I am still treating today. I want to write a full post about this to help anyone else who is going thru chemo, but it is pretty personal and I’m not ready to delve into this topic yet. Let’s just say that having my boobs cut off was a walk in the park compared to this SE! (side effect)

During my 4th treatment I had a mild allergic reaction following the AC infusion. I became incredibly cold – shivering/shaking-in a matter of seconds. The nurses brought hot gel packs & blankets. My oncologist checked on me, and once the drip of the post-med was slowed, I was just fine. If you are going thru chemo, make sure to tell the nurses if you notice any changes during infusions!

That said, the SE (side effects) of the 4th treatment were the easiest! Whoo hoo! (Rounds 2 & 3 were the doozies.)

Still, I did pretty darn good and toughed it out. God has blessed me in so many ways.

Your cards, texts and phone calls have kept me going!