Update And A Whinge

I had an appointment at Onconlogy today. My doctor Kate is just lovely. Very easy to talk to and very informative.

I begin Chemo on Tuesday 22nd August at 10.30. I was lucky enough to be able to pick my own time and day of the week ( I had wanted Monday but they were fully booked). I chose early in the week so that hopefully if I feel sick I can rest during the week days and maybe by the weekend I will feel well enough to spend time with family.

The type of cancer I have is a rarer one. Only 5% of breast cancers are this type and it is also very aggressive (still counting my blessing finding this one). Due to this I have to have a heavy dose of chemo so I am having 18 weeks of treatment (you usually only have 12 weeks of a much lower dose type) in 21 day cycles. This means day one I have my chemo dose and then 21 days later I return for the next and so on depending how my blood counts go and also if I get no infections. In total 6 doses.

I am having a type of chemo called FEC100. It is quite a strong type of chemo and more effective with my type of cancer. It is also the kind to have more side effects but who cares in the long run as long as I come out healthy on the other side. Will just feel like crap for six months or so.Oh and then a few months of radiotherapy after that.

I am not looking forward to the side effects although on the up side they have just authorised a new drug for nausea and vomiting that almost completely reduces the effects. It better work lol as i love my cuppa's and food.

Other side effects include hair loss (my oncologist said I will begin to lose my hair by day 7-10, so I have maybe 2 weeks of hair left), mouth ulcers, diarrhoea/constipation (chemo causes diarrhoea and the nausea drugs cause constipation), low blood counts which can result in infections which if left can be quite serious ( I have to avoid all children who have had their polio vaccine), heart damage, bleeding from the bladder, 1% risk of leukaemia, change in taste, lethargy and memory/concentration difficulties. Obviously not all get all the symptoms. The less the better.

Another major side effect is menopause. We made the decision not to have any more kids a while back so not being able to have more kids isn't really a problem. However I am not looking forward to going through menopause whilst going through chemo. Hot flushes, night sweats etc, I could really do without. With the high dose of chemo I will receive by the end I will be unable to have any more children. Makes me a little sad even though we didn't plan on any more.

Another consideration with the chemo is that I also have mild lupus. The chemo will put my lupus into remission but once chemo stops my lupus will return.

I have healed well over the last three weeks. I am still quite sore, have only driven once (a week ago), but will try again tomorrow. I still have a lot of numbness in my breast and arm. I am slowly getting back some feeling. Imagine a tooth out with a numb mouth but you can still feel pain at the same time. I am finally allowed to remove the hair under my armpit. Thank goodness although in a few weeks I won't have to worry about that as I will have no hair on any part of my body. What a strange feeling.

Due to having my lymph nodes out from under my left arm, I am no longer allowed to shave under my arm, get sunburnt, bug bites, have my blood pressure or blood taken that arm and the list goes on. Mainly due to infection and the risk of getting lymphodoma and the fact I have only a few lymph nodes to fight infection on that side of my body. I have also had some cording in my upper arm. When moving my arm it feels like the muscle isn't long enough to move your arm to where you want to put it. It is to do with the severed nerve endings from the operation. I have also had bad problems with my sciatica (sp) which has caused bad pain in my legs. Driving me nuts. Today was a lot better though.

Another aspect that the oncologist has bought to my attention is that my female relatives will now need breast checks and ultrasounds from the age of 25 years old due to the type of breast cancer I have. My girls, my sister, my Mum (who had her own scare over the last few weeks with a breast lump, biopsy etc but all is fine thanks goodness) and other close female relatives.

My oncologist told me to take photos of my hair before I lose it so I can compare when it comes back. A bit like waiting for a suprise at Christmas lol although it will be more like Christmas in February/March next year. She said it may come back a different shade or colour or curly. Can't wait to find out. Oh and as if I wouldn't take photos. What kind of scrapper would I be.