Chemo Round 3
I’m in the thick of it now! Chemo round 3 was yesterday. It was originally scheduled for Thursday, but my labs earlier in the week showed that my white blood cell count was too low, so we had to postpone until Saturday when it got a little higher and my immune system was stronger.
My biggest complaint after the first two rounds of chemo was how much my arms throbbed and burned from the drugs irritating the veins in my arms. Despite constant ice packs and round-the-clock Tylenol and Motrin, it kept me up at night and really threw a wrench in my post-chemo recovery as I wasn’t even able to get a good night of sleep for several days. To avoid “vein pain” going forward, I had a PICC line placed on Tuesday and it will stay in for the next few weeks until I’m done with treatment.
The PICC is a little high maintenance, but so far I’m very happy with how much more comfortable and easy it is both during the infusion and on the days of recovery between. It feels like the difference between going down a small, narrow country road (my arm veins) and a major multi-lane highway (the big vein by my heart). Another benefit: the PICC is used to draw blood for all of my pre-chemo lab work and anything else I may need an IV for. Going without the frequent needle sticks is a very welcome change!
Other than the vein pain, the side effects haven’t been too terrible. For the first few days after chemo, I’m very drowsy, low energy, and have the appetite of a toddler — I mostly eat toast, soup, crackers, and Cane’s chicken fingers. After a few days, I’m back to eating normal food but in smaller portions than normal. I’ve lost 19 pounds so far starting with my COVID quarantine back in November. (I’m also not going to happy hours during the week with my friends, so that’s probably been another factor in the weight loss!)
My hair starting falling out after round 2. I’d say it’s maybe half gone. Fortunately it’s evenly distributed throughout my head so it’s more akin to thinning and not terribly noticeable yet.
On a positive note, if my treatment plan of four chemo sessions sticks, that means that I just have one more left! My oncologist seems really pleased with how much the swelling in my lymph nodes has gone down, which indicates that the cancer is really responsive to chemo. After one more infusion in 2 weeks, I’ll have another PET scan to assess how well the cancer has responded. I’m praying for good news!
Thanks to everyone for all of your constant love and encouragement — it is so incredibly helpful at keeping my spirits high!
