Chemo rounds 13-15 (AC)

Welcome back!  You’ve probably previously read about my first 12 rounds of chemotherapy.  In total I had sixteen rounds of chemotherapy; the first twelve were Taxol and Carboplatin (Carbo being rounds 1, 4, 7 and 10.)  The final four rounds of chemo were a set of drugs that go by the acronym AC; Adriamycin (also known as the “Red Devil”, charming right?) and Cytoxan.  

Let me start by saying it’s as horrific as it sounds.  Where I was lucky with very few side effects from the Taxol and Carbo, I was very much the opposite with my luck on AC.  The cliché side effect of chemotherapy is nausea.  That and more hit me full force.  It’s literally like having the worst flu of your life.  So… let’s chat about each round, shall we?

Between rounds twelve and thirteen I had an appointment with my oncologist and had labs done, but was able to take a week break from chemotherapy before starting the yucky stuff.  I saw Diane (another patient) while I was there getting labs, and she told me she had her last round of chemotherapy that day!  I was happy for her, and we sat in the waiting room together until she was called in by the lab tech, Malisa.  I hope she’s doing well.

Round thirteen of chemo, round one of AC fell on Valentine’s Day 2019.  Tyler took me (his idea) so we could spend the day together. (We don’t really celebrate or buy gifts, but we do exchange cards).  To start the day, Tyler and I went to breakfast together.  We tried a place in Milwaukee neither of us had ever been to, Mad Rooster, and it was friggen delicious!  I filled my belly with yummy food, and we headed to the hospital.

Because I’d had such an easy time on the Taxol everyone;  Lara, Dr. Pierce, Tyler, and myself were all hopeful my side effects with AC would be minimal.  Lara was off the day of my first AC, so Lisa, another infusion nurse, did the honors of administering the red devil and doing my infusions.  Side note: all of the infusion nurses are amazing.

I sat in the party room (I’d sat in there a few times before), which is called the party room because instead of two infusion chairs there are four.  One would go to the party room if feeling chatty.  It’s usually the room with the most activity because it seats the most patients.  

There was a really awesome lady and her daughter there, and I am kicking myself right now because I cannot remember either of their names, but I can remember the daughter’s wife’s name was Ally.  (Memory is a weird thing, and also chemo brain is real.)  It’s a really good thing Tyler brought along a Sudoku book, because I spent the entire two hours of infusion talking to these two women.  The mother, who was the patient, was there for magnesium infusions.  She had finished chemo eight weeks before but was on a limited diet and couldn’t get her magnesium levels up high enough to get her surgery.  She had ovarian cancer.  I am hoping by now she’s had her surgery.  It shouldn’t, but it still surprises me how easily I bond with the people who sit with me during infusion.  I made a cute sign for my social media photo, and Tyler took my picture, as well as a photo of the syringe with the red devil inside of it.  We later took a selfie on our way out of the hospital, too.

After infusion, Tyler wanted to get some running around done.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond to the new chemo, and to be on the safe side I had him drop be off at home.  It’s a good thing, because two hours after I got home the side effects hit my like a ton of brick.  The nausea hit the hardest, followed closely behind by severe body aches, chills and hot flashes, and absolutely zero control over my emotions.  I cried most of the night; partly because of how terrible I felt, and partly because I was so shocked that I felt as bad as I did.  I had a friend who’d previously finished treatment stop by the house and drop off some of her anti-nausea meds (they were different from mine) and those helped control the nausea a little bit more, but I just could not seem to get on top of it.

The boys were off the following day, and I took them with me to get my Neulasta shot.  I also talked to Diane, the NP, and was able to get a second prescription for another anti-nausea medication to help combat that.  I tried to get control of the body aches with ibuprofen.  Honestly, though, there wasn’t anything that worked 100% that first round.  When we got home from my shot, I slept while the boys played video games all afternoon (mother of the year right here.)  The boys were amazing all day.  They brought we water when I needed it, they checked on me throughout the day, and they let me sleep when I told them I needed to.  I truly have some amazingly sweet children.

Between thirteen and fourteen, Dr. Pierce ordered a breast MRI to check on my tumors and see how they responded to the first chemotherapy.  I got my results two days later - and BOY were they amazing.  Best case scenario shit.  The tumor in my breast was undetectable on the MRI. They couldn't find it. They call that a "total response" to treatment. My metastatic lymph node tumor shrunk by half.  Also amazing news.  It gave me new motivation to get through the last three rounds of AC, which as you can imagine, I absolutely hate.

Round fourteen of chemo, round two of AC Beth came along with me again.  I saw Rosie right when we walked in and told her if she had time for me I’d love some Reiki.  I was wound so tight after having such a hard time with the first round, I knew I needed to relax.  I was trying to be positive, but I was shaking inside.  Rosie came in before infusion even began, turned down the lights, and started Reiki before Lara began administering the red devil.  

The Reiki really did help, and I was able to relax.  I didn’t make any signs for this round of chemo, in fact I totally forgot to have Beth take my picture altogether.  She did, however, take a photo of Rosie doing Reiki and Lara giving me chemo because she was so touched by the moment.  Turns out it was the perfect photo for my post.  

One of the moments that stands out the most for me about this week was Rosie incorporated my son Shamus into to Reiki treatment.  Just the fact that she remembered my children, knew their names, and knew their personalities just from our conversations and meeting them once, touched me heart.

When I got home from this treatment, I was alone and trying to stay self-aware.  I tried to pay attention to my body so I could pinpoint exactly when the changes began, and could get the anti-nausea medicine in my system as soon as the first tingle of pain began.  IT WORKED!  At the first sign of muscle pain and a few stomach cramps, I took one of my anti-nausea pills and two ibuprofen.  Even though I still felt like crud, it was nothing compared to the first time.  

The next day I went for my shot, reported that I was in better control of my side effects, and went on my way. Easy!  I could barely get out of bed I was so exhausted and my body hurt so much, but at least I didn't have constant nausea.

Round fifteen of chemo, round three of AC Kaitlyn accompanied me.  We sat in my favorite room, room four.  There’s nothing special about room four except that I like sitting there.  As usual, the person who was sitting in the room and I hit it off immediately.  Her name was Gail, and she talked to Kaitlyn and I the entire time we were there for infusion.  She had previously had cancer in her uterus, and was such an advocate for self-care and self-awareness that I was inspired.  When we first arrived she was receiving Reiki from Rosie.  I raised my hand and asked Rosie to come back when she had time because I was interested in receiving treatment again.

Gail and her husband were a lot of fun to talk to, and toward the end of my infusion after I’d received Reiki, Rosie had told us how Gail had given her a box full of beaded bracelets she had made herself during her down time.  She offered bracelets to Kaitlyn and me, and had me take one for each of the kids!  The bracelets were beautiful, and there is something truly special about receiving something handmade by someone you just spent three hours talking to and getting to know.  The boys love the bracelets I chose for them, and Evelyn seemed about as interested in hers as everything else she plays with.  It lasted about 25 seconds before she moved onto something else.  I’ll save it for her.

I went back in for my Neulasta shot that Friday, and it was uneventful.  I spent most of Friday fighting off intense fatigue and body aches and watching a new show I found on Hulu about wine.  Enough said.

My last round of AC was 3/28/19, but that round deserves a blog post of its own.

Chemo Rounds 10-12

Continuing with my chemo treatment stories...
The last three rounds of Taxol and Carboplatin were interesting, and also fun. (I know that’s a strange thing to read, it’s even stranger to be writing it.)

Round ten my mom took me, and my brother Chris tagged along knowing he’d be bringing me the following week himself.  He wasn’t sure what to expect and wanted to prepare himself.  

I asked my mom to bring her brightest red lipstick with, just for fun, so we could do a photo together.  She did.  I also wore bright red shoes.  My brother joined in the photo fun.  It was my last dose of Carbo, and I can tell you I was extremely thankful for that.  My labs were good, too, which is always something you want to hear.  It was fun chit-chatting with them, and Chris engaged in some playful banter with Lara.  She liked him immediately.
I also met a lovely woman named Diane while we were there.  It was her first time having chemo, and she was nervous.  We all tried to give her support through infusion, and unfortunately she did experience an allergic reaction and some side effects of the chemo itself.  She was on a different drug than I was receiving, but the side effects were very similar to those I could’ve ended up having but didn’t.  To try to help her make it through infusion, Rosie came in and performed Reiki.  (Rosie, the Reiki lady.  That woman is an angel.)  My mom and brother were extremely respectful during Diane’s Reiki, and you could see and feel that it was helping her get through.
The weekend after round ten I was sore and tired, but again, the Carbo didn’t seem to have too harsh of an effect on me.  THANK GOODNESS!

Round eleven Chris drove me.  Are you a “Stranger Things” fan? I am!  So, of course, being round eleven I did a play on words.  I printed off a photo of the character “Eleven” and even held a waffle in my mouth during my picture for social media.  Diane sat in my infusion room with me again for her second round of chemo.  She, Chris, and I all chatted through the three hours I was there.  I learned a lot of Diane’s family, and she learned a lot about mine.  She has a great-granddaughter named Evelyn, just as my daughter’s name is Evelyn.  This round of chemo went a lot more smoothly for her, which was awesome!  
Chris and I went out of Indian food after chemo, which is one of our favorites.  He also drove me to the store… my own personal chauffeur for the day.  It felt more like we were hanging out than he was taking me for cancer treatment.  It was a good day, and because it was only a taxol week the weekend felt like any other weekend.

Can you say POLAR VORTEX?  Round twelve came when the Midwest was experiencing record breaking cold weather.  My sons, Desmond and Shamus, ended up having multiple school cancellations during this time because of the dangerously cold weather.  
Shelly took me to this round of chemo, and the boys came along!  (Evelyn goes to the sitters, even on chemo days, because she is too little to be allowed in the infusion area.)  The boys being 8 and 10 were old enough to sit there with us.  Shelly took each of them to the café and the hospital gift shop, one at a time, during the two and a half hours we were there.  I let them bring their tablets should the get bored. Honestly, having them there was actually enjoyable.  Lara put them to work (or rather they put themselves to work) passing out snacks to other patients receiving infusions, they were polite and quiet the entire time they were there, and they were inquisitive.  They asked questions, and I felt like it was really important to see what I was going through, both for myself and for them.  
Diane, the patient I’d sat with the two infusions earlier, sat with us toward the end of infusion and was able to meet the boys.  Rosie came to visit, and since I always talking about them, was extremely excited to meet them!  The NP, Diane, came in as we were packing up to leave and told me how wonderful the boys are, and how well behaved they are (little does she know…).  I was so humbled by the compliment, and showered the boys with it the rest of the day.  They really were wonderful during treatment.  They said and did all the right things, and I couldn’t ask for better sons.

Round twelve was my last Taxol treatment before starting a little bit harsher chemo, but more on that to come!

For more information on the type of chemotherapy I received for the first 12 doses, please follow this link: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/drugs/CARBOPLATIN-TAXOL

Chemo Rounds 7-9

There is a good chance if you're reading this post, you've read the previous two about my chemo adventures!

Fun fact: before every round of chemo I have to have lab work done to ensure my blood cell counts are OK, and make sure I am healthy enough to receive chemo.  There were a few times some of my counts were border-line but I still received treatment.  Unfortunately, however, on 12/22 when I went in to receive treatment, that was not the case.  My white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets were all in too low of range to get treatment. In addition I was running a low grade fever (bad news if you are on chemo), and had a cold.  Hurray for being immune-compromised!  I had my work holiday luncheon that day, so fortunately because I did not have treatment, I was able to make the entirety of my holiday party! In addition, Tyler had come with me, and was able to go to work and be paid for half a day!  (Which was nice since FMLA hours are unpaid, so my checks are scary!)

So, round seven was postponed because of my lab work.  I still posted a photo to social media explaining, and rather than a photo from an infusion room, it was a photo of my holding a gift I'd received in the mail along with an explanation that I wouldn't be receiving treatment that day.  Luckily, through the entirety of treatment, this was the only time I had to skip. 

Round seven came the following week.  Beth came with me again, and Gabby, my other sister-in-law was on winter break and decided to also come!  The lovely Marsha sat in our infusion room with us, and Beth had met her previously so it was actually a really great time.  Gabby asked a lot of questions about our diagnosis process, as she was getting ready to write a college entrance essay.  As per usual, I posted a photo to social media, but asked Beth and Gabby to be in the photo with me.  Marsha took the photo for us.  

Side note: the previous round of chemo which had been 2 weeks prior, Marsha was also with me.  My mom had been there that round and was able to meet both Marsha and Marsha's mom.  Have I mentioned how much I adore Marsha?  She's hilarious, fun, and it just feels good to be around her.

Round seven was a carbo week.  I was expecting to feel pretty down over the weekend, but by some miracle the weekend was not half bad!  It was the best I had felt after a carbo infusion since chemo had begun!  Happy New Year!

If I am being completely honest, I can’t remember much about round eight.  I am taking that as a good sign.  Things I do remember:  Shelly (MIL) came with me, my hat matched the infusions chair I sat in which made for an awesome social media photo (important things), I received Reiki and fell asleep during it, and my friend Laura named one of her chickens “Brave Betty” in honor of me.  It was only a taxol week, so I assume the side effects were minimal.  Honestly, the Reiki probably relaxed me so much that there wasn’t much TO remember about that day.  Sometimes that is okay.

A few days before the ninth round of chemo I registered for the Relay for Life walk/run for the American Cancer Society.  I added this to my social media post and asked for donations or for friends to join my team.  A few donated, a few joined my team.  As of today the walk hasn’t happened.  It’s in two weeks.  This was a taxol only week, and over the weekend I was tired but overall felt half-way decent.  The other Beth Gramz came to this round of chemo with me again, and honestly it was a lot of fun just hanging out with her and talking.  It seems strange to think, but Beth and I have discussed how despite this being a scary situation, we’ve grown a lot closer from it.  It’s been pretty great becoming more than just “family”!  I would say we are truly good friends now. 

There is still time to donate to my American Cancer Society Relay for Life walk on 4/6/19:  http://main.acsevents.org/goto/bravebetty

Thanks for reading… more to come!