Feeling Pretty Good! Day 1 Post Chemo Round 2

I survived. In fact, I feel pretty good. So good I teleworked today. I might have been able to go in, but I was worried about surprise GI issues, so stayed at home. When I woke up this morning, no nausea, no vomiting, no diarrhea, no headache, no steroid acne, and little to no fatigue. MAJOR difference from last time. I took my meds (dexamethasone and Zofran) as scheduled in the morning and afternoon. Some mild upset tummy on the morning one, but no worse than taking a multivitamin without breakfast first. At 5pm, I noticed the weird sunburn recall reaction was back on my face, neck and upper arms, and took some Claritin and my Neulasta shot at 5:43 (24h + 10 min past yesterday's infusion time). I ended my 80 hour water only fast today at 5:47pm with 50 calories of applesauce, then all kinds of goodies. Blueberry muffin Lara Bar. About Time Vanilla Protein shake with organic mixed berries. A handful of 10 raw organic macadamia nuts. A yummy crispbread cracker with some cashew butter. OK, maybe not a good idea to pound 800 calories in 45 minutes, but I was just soooo excited to eat. And so far, I feel pretty much FINE. Some chills started at 4pm, and by 8pm I was wrapped up like an Eskimo, but I will take it. (Already googled for answers on why/what to do. Persistent chills in cancer patients are apparently an open research question.)

 

I am still a little nervous about upcoming days 3, 4, and 5 because they are known for being the worst for fatigue amongst chemo patients on this regimen, but when I think back to day 1 and 2 last time, I woke up on day 1 last time so weak I was worried about driving to acupuncture and last time on day 2 I woke up crying in pain from bloating. Maybe it's that I didn't have two surgeries 48 hours before chemo this time. Maybe it's because we changed my premeds. Maybe it's because the standard protocol has dose 1 chemo meds much higher than dose 2. But I really think it was the water fast. I hated doing that. I couldn't even do a Master Cleanse for more than 4 days before, and that at least involved getting calories. I was just that desparate to feel better. You know, pain is real, but so is hope.

 

12 pounds lost in 7 days, 3 of which were muscle. :-( Hopefully I can get it back and stave off more muscle wasting. Not sad at all to see the fat go! Even with all the other tweaks that could have contributed to me feeling better, I think I will definitely be doing the water-only fast again. 2 days before,the day of chemo, 24h post infusion. The 2 days before are to put the healthy cells in maintenance mode, day of is to keep it clean, 24h is to avoid any liver toxicity as the liver works to get the chemo out before the food comes in. I drank 2.2L water during the infusion and also had about 1L of ice chips during the Taxotere and Carboplatin. I think I was pretty well hydrated, especially with some extra saline via IV on top of that.

 

We will see whether the ice chips worked when we get closer to days 6-10 when the oral mucositis started showing up last time. Based on my research, I popped the first ice cubes in 5 minutes before the Taxotere and kept them going through the Carboplatin. I am so HOPEFUL that this round will go better and maybe be a road map for the future. Maybe at some point I will even tell my medical oncologist what I did with the fast. I know. Maybe I should have told her in the first place, but I was going to do it no matter what she said anyway, and I am still really angry about how round 1 went. And I feel better because I did the water fast, so there. I did negotiate my way into being "allowed" to take tumeric honestly so that's good. She has had patients take it with no adverse affects, but couldn't say it was absolutely safe without some full FDA approval. We are getting to a better place, but round 1 will take some serious time to get over. Trying to focus on the future and stay positive about the progress I have already made.

 

I am 1/3 done with the horrible TCHP chemo cocktail! 2 rounds down, 4 rounds to go. Yeah, there are still hard things ahead, but I do feel like I'm making progress. The tumor physically feels smaller. I'm hoping I'll feel up to working again tomorrow, and maybe catching up on some correspondence. (If I haven't emailed you back, I'm working on it!) Maybe I'll even get a workout in this weekend!

 

Friday is also the event at Eivind and Hans. Come one, come all. Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the American Cancer Society's Look Good Feel Better program. Josh and I are planning to be there at 5:30pm. They will have a live telecast to the main party in Nashville, and Eivind and Hans is the flagship for all of the DC metro area. Love them!

 

Keep your fingers crossed for me on avoiding the GI issues and overcoming my chills!

 

Song for today, keeping it easy. Video is not my fave, but Mariah can still really sing: