First Taxol Treatment Went Well!

The Saturday before my treatment I got up on the roof and put up our Christmas lights.  I felt like I was showing cancer who was boss as I was doing it.  I am not sure who I feel the character of cancer is that I was taunting in my mind while I was up on the roof, but I had a true feeling of victory while I was up there.

Tuesday, (Dec 9) was my first of twelve weekly taxol treatments.  I was pretty nervous about them because I just did not know what to expect.  Last Wednesday we had a wonderful Christmas dinner and program for the ladies in our church and the songs and thoughts people shared calmed me a little but I was still surprised how much stress I was feeling about the new treatment.  Sunday I woke up early and couldn't sleep, so I looked at the original sources a couple of the ladies had used for their thoughts.   Both spoke on the gifts offered by the Savior and how they are available to us if we just accept them.  Feelings of peace, calm, and comfort were some of the gifts mentioned and reading both talks really calmed me down.  Both of these talks were originally given by the same person and have great thoughts on Christmas and how to really enjoy the season, more than on how to handle cancer treatments so I am including the links below for anyone who needs a little quiet reminder of what the season should be all about :)

 Of Curtains, Contentment, and Christmas
The Good and Grateful Receiver

Anyway, although I felt more calm, I was still surprised at the physical reaction I had as I drove into the medical center parking lot.  I started to feel a little nauseous just parking and walking in.  We had Larry as our nurse again, which was very nice.  He is just such a calm person and remembered us from our first treatment (which could be good or bad).  Because it was a new drug we had to listen to all the possible side effects and problems that could occur, but with this drug it seems like most of the problems would occur during the administration of the drug, with very little happening once we got home.  Larry explained that I am receiving four rounds of taxol, but they have split it up into twelve treatments so each time I only receive a third of the drug and this greatly reduces the side effects.

In order to see how my body would react to the administration of the drug, they slowed it down and gave what is usually an hour long drip, in just under two hours.  They also checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes and made sure I wasn't having any chest pain, severe and sudden onset back aches, a sudden flushed face or any pain or strange sensations near my port.  Luckily none of these things occurred and we came home.  I was tired more from the stress of the day than from the drugs and just went to bed.  Yesterday I woke up and felt great.  I am not nauseous at all!  I even had some chocolate chips for breakfast just to test out how well I was feeling, and nothing happened :)

They did say that after a few weeks of the treatment I could experience a tingling sensation at my fingertips and in my toes that could progressively get worse and cause temporary nerve damage and I could also start to have deep muscle and bone aches, so that's still something to look forward to.  But, they also reassured me that this does not happen to everyone and I could be just fine.   I asked if exercise would make these things worse and Larry said it wouldn't hurt anything and could make it better, so I did yoga yesterday and jogged on the treadmill and tried to go running today which turned more into a walk because I am a little tired from yesterday, but I just feel I have to keep it up to keep the muscle pain away and the nerves intact.  Overall I just feel so happy to feel well and drink water again and not have the metal taste in my mouth that I don't think I will mind spending a few hours each week at the clinic and hopefully the "anticipation nausea" (that's what Larry called my reaction to the clinic) will go away.