Taxol + Herceptin: Round 5 of 12 complete...

It's been a couple weeks since I've last updated everyone on how I'm doing.

Our house has been a busy one! Kaitlin arrived on July 8th to visit us for the summer - we're so excited to have her here, and her sister & brother are really enjoying her company as well. My mom was here helping out for two weeks in July, and the day she left, Jeff's parents came in from Boise to help with the kiddos and around the house. My sister, Jamie, also flew in this week to meet her nephew and to see all of us. That's 6 adult-sized people, two babies, and a dog-boy in a 1300 sq ft house...yikes! BUT, we are all surviving and are enjoying each other's company.

Now for the medical update...Round 4 of chemo was pretty smooth. My white count rebounded with the help of the Neupogen shots (my new best friend!) and we decided to keep the dosage levels the same for the stinkin' steroids - Decadron. From my last post, you may remember that the evil Decadron gives me horrible insomnia and paranoia/anxiety. I also can't forget to mention the 3 lb (yes, that's three) weight gain I had this week from my buddy, Decadron. I AM SUPPOSED TO BE LOSING WEIGHT AFTER HAVING A BABY, not gaining it! However, I need the stinkin' steroids to minimize the effects of the Taxol, which is known to cause severe allergic reactions. Surprisingly, Round 4 resulted in about 4-5 hrs of numbness/tingling in my arms and 2 nights of insomnia...not bad. Especially with the help of my new friend, Ambien (hello, sleeping pills!).

This week was Round 5 of chemo. I went in on Tues for blood work, and my white counts are back down...this time, to an all-time low of 1.2. I can't be treated if they drop below 1.0, so I will also be receiving more Neupogen this week (a shot on Thurs, Fri, & Sat). The Oncologist & I decided to stay on the same poisonous cocktail: 5mg of the evil Decadron, Benadryl, Tagament, Herceptin, & Taxol. I have been feeling pretty nauseous lately, so we also added 1/2mg of Ativan to the mix (which, conveniently, makes me very sleepy). Surprisingly, I didn't have any numbness last night, but was the most tired I've been post-chemo. Usually, I come back to life around 7pm, but last night I was pretty drained the entire night.

I still had some nausea today - tried taking some Zofran this morning to cut it down a bit, and it seemed to do the trick. I have been pretty tired, but Maryn has been having a rough time with sleep lately, so that is adding to my sleeplessness.

How could I forget to mention - my hair is beginning to fall out again. This time much slower than with the CAF regimen. I first noticed it when tweezing some stray eyebrows about a week ago - there wasn't any resistance in pulling the hair out. SO, I'm absolutely NOT touching my eyebrows. Funny - all my life I've been annoyed with how full my eyebrows are, and how quickly the hair grows back after a waxing or tweezing. It wasn't until chemo, that I became thankful to inherit the "Bacon-brow"! The hair on my head is starting to fall out, but not in clumps like before. Just a few hairs here & there...thinning overall. I haven't decided if I'll go for a shave again once there are noticeable bald areas, or if I'll just go back to wearing a head scarf. AND, if I may complain for one moment - why the heck does the hair not fall out from where I want it to? I'd like to order up some missing leg & armpit hair, a nice bikini line (I know, TMI), and perhaps some missing facial hair. BUT NO! That one damn chin hair I have still remains. This just isn't fair! Ha ha ha!

On a similarly related note, I was thumbing through some old chemo paperwork last night and found my prescription for a cranial prosthesis...a funny name for a wig, don't you think? I can think of a few people I'd like to give this prescription to, although not in the context it's written for....lobotomy is more like it!

So, that's the latest in our crazy life. Jeff has been working throughout the weeks, but has been taking Wed's off to accompany me to chemo (usually a 3hr process from start to finish). He seems to be hanging in here pretty well. We all have some dark circles under our eyes, but even if cancer hadn't reared it's ugly head in our house, they'd still be there with two kiddos under two-years-old.

Hope this post finds you healthy & happy!
Leanne