Chemo #8

Chemo #8 was yesterday.  It went by quickly.  We went to lunch and then the benadryl they give me kicked in.  I had to go get a pulmonary function test after chemo and I was so knocked out.  I fell asleep in the car there, in the waiting room, and on the way back home.  I crawled into bed and fell asleep for the next 4 hours.  My ass was just dragging everywhere.

Cancer shower thoughts - I've been bitten at least 5 times in the last few days by mosquitoes through my pants.  The mosquitoes in Austin are vicious this year because of all the rain and standing water.  But what happens to mosquitoes that bite me and drink my blood?  Do the chemo drugs affect them?  If I'm so affected by my chemo drugs, I really hope they just die.  Does my lower red blood count and white blood count mean they're not as full?

Here are some pics.  Please enjoy this carefully curated gallery of my side effects.

Fatigue
This is why I basically go into hibernation for 3 days after chemo.  I just have 0 energy.

When I get home from chemo:

Steroid Hunger

 
Dehydration
The chemo drugs just dry me the eff out.  My whole body feels swollen:

 And I have intense dry mouth:

Nausea
I feel like I've been lucky in the nausea department.  It's mild to moderate and I haven't thrown up yet.  However, when I smell certain scents like our home antibacterial soap (unfortunate) or some flowers, I do this:

Hair Loss
My hair hasn't completely fallen out but it's certainly thinning.

My reaction when it fell out in the shower:

Constipation and Indigestion
How does this both happen at the same time?  My poops are just .. so interesting now.  One day I'm like this:

And the next day, I'm like this:

Chemo Brain
I lose my train of thought.  My vocabulary has shrunk - I have a hard time finding the right word for what I'm trying to say.  It's annoying af.  When I walk into a room and forget what I'm doing:

When people ask me complex questions (usually concerning work stuff):

Shots In The Butt
I get my monthly Lupron shot in the butt muscle.  It results in a welt-like bump and I have to rub it or else be sore for a few days.  What this sounds like:

What I'm actually doing:

Post chemo #7

haha, I should give myself a few days for the side effects of all the drugs to even out before posting happy things. 

I get anti-nausea meds and steroids as part of the pre-meds prior to the chemo drugs.  The pre-meds usually squash the chemo side effects (nausea, no appetite) until about 3 days after chemo.  After that, I feel super fatigued and mild nausea.  I am trying out a new anti-nausea patch (sancuso) this time around since my nausea after chemo #6 lasted about 5 days afterwards.  But of course, this patch has side effects.  The most noticeable one is a persistent headache.. that I then take ibuprofen for.  It's one big side effect management game!

Chemo #7

Guess who's back, back again. Karen's back, tell a friend! 

Chemo #7 was yesterday and it was uneventful! When you have cancer, you want everyday to be uneventful. I don't want medical surprises.. I just want to get through this, get through chemo, and know there's nothing malignant in my body anymore. 

I met another young person at chemo yesterday. He's also 29 and has a germ cell tumor in his chest and actually went to the same cardiothoracic surgeon I did around the same time I did earlier this year. The surgeon mentioned to him that he had seen a young female patient just a week before who had a mass in her chest like his. When I told him my symptoms, he realized the surgeon was taking about me. Small world! His chemo regimen is way more intense than mine.. 3 week cycles - week 1 and week 2 Mondays last 7 hours and week 3 is Monday through Friday, 5 hours each. My regimen is every other Friday and it only lasts 3 hours. He says it's curable and he should be done in July. I'm rooting for him! 

I feel incredibly lucky - even though I've been dealt the shit hand of cancer, it's one that's curable. I have lots of support and not a lot of stress. I dread going to chemo because of the side effects, but they could be worse! My hair hasn't completely fallen out and my brows are still there! I have nausea but I haven't thrown up. My appetite is good. My anemia is non-existent. My succulents haven't died. I got married and gained an incredibly supportive and hilarious family.  Life is pretty good!

I'm getting overly mushy now.  I love you guys

#chemo #7! More than halfway through. My face is getting rounder because I've gained 10 lbs since I've started chemo. Loss of appetite hasn't been a problem for me! #hodgkinslymphoma

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on May 15, 2015 at 8:46am PDT

💖G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on May 16, 2015 at 10:57am PDT

Happy Chemo de Mayo!

I wish I could take credit for that title, but I can't. A friend said that to me this morning and now I have to write a post before Cinco de Mayo is over. 

Chemo #6 was this past Friday and I'm officially halfway done!! Only 6 more chemo treatments to go! 

The side effects this time are worse and more long-lasting. They include some gnarly hot flashes, wibbly-wobbly dizziness, and constant nausea (no cute adjective there because nausea ain't cute). My usual go-to of Zofran hasn't been cutting it. My next option is to take Phenergan which just knocks me the eff out. That's one way of dealing with it hah. I've been resisting taking it because I actually like being productive during my days. I couldn't do my usual stare-at-my-succulents for an hour thing during the day because a wasp has built not one, but 2, nests under the 2nd floor balcony and was busy tending to them.  Seriously, who needs that much real estate? 

Last week, my Uncle Tony and Aunt Bonnie and her husband Anthony came to visit from New England. This week, my in-laws are here! Yay visitors!!

Now pictures.

#chemo #6. After this, I'm halfway done! #hodgkinslymphoma

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on May 1, 2015 at 8:08am PDT

I've been a little obsessed with #succulents these past few weeks. Hope I don't kill them :/ #echeveria #blackprince #dondo #crassula #SedumRubrotinctum

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on May 1, 2015 at 8:35pm PDT

Post chemo #5

I have been slacking!  So sorry!

My parents have been in town for this past week and my siblings came in for the weekend.  It consisted of a lot of chilling, TV and the Mavs games. 

So, PET scan results!  I talked to my oncologist about them last Tuesday and he said he was happy with the results so far.  The tumor has shrunk and my lymph nodes aren't lighting up as much as they did in the first PET scan.  Good news!  I will have to do a total of 6 cycles (12 chemo treatments).  There is an end in sight, people!  And it looks like it's before my 30th birthday!  :D

Selfie while waiting for my oncologist today. Interim PET scan results show I'm responding well to the chemo. My tumor has shrunk and I'm not "lighting up" as much on the scan. I'll have to do a total of 6 cycles, which puts me as DONE a few weeks before my 30th birthday in August (barring any delays to treatment like low WBC). #hodgkinslymphoma

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 21, 2015 at 8:24pm PDT

Goofballs at the Oasis for the sunset 🙈

A photo posted by @_peggyp on Apr 26, 2015 at 6:51pm PDT

I love this man!

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 26, 2015 at 7:19pm PDT

Thanks @conniecaps for knitting such a cute hat for my sister! @thekaren #handmade #knitstagram #chemo

A photo posted by @_peggyp on Apr 27, 2015 at 9:04am PDT

Chemo #5

So it's been about 38 hours since I finished my 5th chemo session!  Figured I wouldn't wait a week to update this time haha

We got to the cancer center 30 minutes late because I'm usually slow in the morning, especially on chemo days. I didn't want to skip breakfast because who really wants to feel worse after chemo because you're starving from missing breakfast and roid raging?!  No one, that's who.  (I don't really roid rage, I just am fucking hangry!!!)

Chemo went by pretty quickly.  I chatted with the nurses and the front desk lady. They are so NICE and FRIENDLY that it blows my mind. I love nurses. 

Oh yea, I had a PET scan on Thursday, the day before chemo.  I couldn't eat 6 hours before I was to be injected with the radioactive sugar at 1PM, so I woke up at 6:30 just to eat breakfast and go back to sleep.  We arrive at 1 and wait for 30 minutes. I get injected with radioactive tracer coming from a syringe encased in metal that came out of a metal box. I then get bundled up in blankets and had a space heater blowing at me so that I don't tense up and cause false positives due to bad uptake.  I am basically left alone in a room by myself for about an hour with instructions to not text or talk.  Naturally, I fall asleep.  I get woken up by the radiologist. He compliments me on my cateye makeup not once, but twice! <3 I'm in the boring PET scan machine for what I estimate to be 20 minutes. Of course, I fall asleep asleep again.  You would think the novelty of medical procedures would still keep me wide-eyed and awake, but that's now worn off.  It's 4PM by the time I'm done and can finally eat.

Okay back to chemo day.  I eat a huge lunch and drink like 5 glasses of iced tea to try to combat the intense dehydration I feel after chemo. It doesn't really help and now I'm just peeing every 20 minutes.  I get the usual hot flashes, rosy cheeks, and dry mouth and metal taste and in my mouth for the rest of the day.  I nap for a few hours but the hot flashes keep waking me up. Being drenched in sweat is not fun to wake up to! For me, it's hard to regulate - I oscillate from shivering cold to sweaty hot easily.  That might be the most annoying side effect this round.

Today, I went to the cancer center to get IV fluids to help me feel better.  It does help with the dehydration feeling so yay!  I walked about 0.8 miles after getting home from lunch and then slept for 3 hours. I don't exactly feel sleepy, just fatigue. The naps help, but the fatigue comes back quickly.

We had a big storm pass through Austin just now that brought pea-sized hail. My poor tangerine plant thing :(

I've got an appointment with my oncologist on Tuesday 4/21 to go over the PET scan results.  I am nerrrrrvousss.

I'm getting a PET scan today and had to be injected with a #radioactive tracer from that giant metal syringe. #petscan #hodgkinslymphoma #cancer

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 16, 2015 at 12:14pm PDT

#chemo #5! It's the beginning of cycle 3. Haha, my hand looks disproportionately big, doesn't it!? #hodgkinslymphoma #cancer

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 17, 2015 at 8:02am PDT

Picture of my port with and without the Huber needle attached. The line is taped up next to it. #port-a-cath #Huberneedle #hodgkinslymphoma #cancer

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 17, 2015 at 10:21pm PDT

Chemo #4

Hello friends!  Here's your weekly update!

Chemo #4 started off like normal - I get to the cancer center around 9AM and get my vitals taken and blood drawn.  They run a CBC while I see my nurse practitioner, Michelle.  I claim a comfy chemo chair and start to settle in while Terri-Lynn start my premeds.  About 20 minutes later, she comes back and stops my premeds.  She says my neutrophils count was very low and she had to consult with Michelle before I could continue with the premeds and chemo.  I eventually got the okay from Michelle, phew.  Delaying my treatment is the last thing I want.  Chemo proceeds, I fall asleep, I wake up, and I listen to the other patients talk.  After treatment, I was STARVING and craving Mexican.  I ended up eating 2 enchiladas and all of the sides of beans and rice.  I usually don't finish all my food when we go out to eat, but the premeds (steroids?) make me really hungry for a few days after chemo.  While we're on the topic of food, my eating habits have taken a turn for the worse.  I crave fried foods, pizza, and hamburgers alllll the time and we usually give in to those cravings.  Mom, do you read my blog?  Please don't get mad :x

Day 2 consisted of getting the 1st of 2 neupogen shots and a heart echo to see if chemo has affected my heart.  Spoiler - it hasn't!  Neupogen is very similar to the Neulasta I got after cycle 1 but shorter lasting, which is why I had to get another shot on Day 3.  After arriving at the hospital for the shot, I started feeling dizzy and weak.  The nurse ends up giving me IV fluids and I do feel better afterwards.  I'll probably start getting fluids 2 days after chemo now to help me feel better faster.  On Day 7, I had a CBC again and it showed my neutrophils were way low again.  I had woken up that morning with a tickle in my throat so my oncologist had me get another Neupogen shot to boost my immune system just in case I was coming down with something.  Either my immune system kicked ass and stopped me from getting sick, or it was just allergies.  I'm leaning towards allergies because I am allergic to everything in Austin - mold, oak, cedar, ragweed, cedar, dogs, cats.

We had dinner with Damien's sister-in-law (my BIL's wife) and niece one night and watched the Game of Thrones premier with the Game Night Crew another night.  It is always so great to catch up with friends and family.  The rest of the 10 days were pretty uneventful.  My days were full of working, walking, and watching Daredevil on Netflix.  Everyone should watch Daredevil - it's so well done and the fight scenes are interesting.  It's a little (okay, a LOT) gory and there's a lot of violence and sometimes, I turn away, but it's good.  My hair is still falling out but it's not noticeable since I'm bald anyway.  My eyebrows and lashes are still mostly intact so when we do go out, I rock a full face of makeup with a bald head. 

I have a PET scan scheduled for tomorrow 4/16 to determine how many more cycles I have left.  I have to cut out carbs and sugars 24 hours before the scan, which is fine by me!  I had steak (prime ribeye YUM) and broccoli smothered in cheese for dinner and it's basically the perfect meal.  Cycle 3 begins this Friday!  I feel like I'm making great progress in getting rid of this cancer crap and we'll know whether this is true medically after the PET scan results.  I CAN'T WAIT!

#chemo #4! End of my 2nd cycle. Happy Monday! #hodgkinslymphoma #abvd

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 6, 2015 at 9:08am PDT

And here's a pic of the most wonderful husband in the world doing his part:

I had to get #neupogen shots over 2 days to get my WBC up. The shots come out of the fridge so hubby helped by warming them up. They still stung like a bitch. Not sure why he looks so crazed but don't stare too long.. his eyes will follow you. #hodgkinslymphoma #abvd

A photo posted by Karen (@thekaren) on Apr 8, 2015 at 7:53pm PDT