My Breast Cancer Journal
June 18 - 24
Tuesday, June 20, 2000
I just finished my second chemo treatment. So far, so good. They gave me samples of Zofran for the nausea, just in case the phenergan doesn't work. And they gave me pre-filled syringes of Neupogen. I'll start giving myself injections of Neupo on Sunday the 25th and finish on July 5th. I'm to give myself the injections at the same time every day, so I need to start thinking about the best time to do that.Because I had such a hard time with the nausea and vomiting last time, I decided to do a clear liquid diet right out of the starting gate this time. So I'm stocked up on sports drinks, ginger ale, and jello. Doesn't that sound exciting? Well, if it works, it will be!
Well, the clear liquid diet didn't help. Neither did the new anti-nausea meds. I'm still throwing up. Since I haven't eaten anything, I started with the acid and bile right away.I also have a headache again. I hope I can get some sleep tonight.
posted by Karen Weber Tuesday, June 20, 2000
Wednesday, June 21, 2000
I cannot begin to tell you how much better I'm doing this time around than I did last time. Since I posted last (around 9:30 last night), I have not thrown up. I didn't sleep much last night - I mostly rubbed my head (headache) and hiccuped - but I am still feeling much better today than I felt even a week after the first chemo. I was nauseated at about 4 am, so I took another pill, then sat up and read for a while. This morning I've eaten a piece of toast and I am trying ginger ale again. I had a little acidy feeling this morning, so I had some baking soda in water and that seems to have calmed things down a bit. Mom is going to go home this afternoon, as long as I continue to hold the toast down. Much, much better!Not for the faint of heart: Bald Karen. At last there is documentary proof that I was born to be bald! The baby picture was taken when I was about 7 or 8 months old.
Here's some information about a rare form of breast cancer: Paget's Disease. posted by Karen Weber Wednesday, June 21, 2000
Thursday, June 22, 2000
Well, I continued to hold food down yesterday. I had a quiche from Trader Joe's for lunch. It made me a little queasy, but the phenergan took care of that. Then I had a bowl of ice cream for dinner. That sat really well. I slept like a baby last night - didn't wake up once. Rick got me up at 7:30 this morning. I'm very tired, no doubt from not sleeping the night before, but other than that, doing pretty well. My stomach was a bit queasy until I ate breakfast - a milkshake. Yum!I think one of the keys is managing the headache. I am prone to migraines, and they always cause vomiting in me. Last time I didn't take a pill for the headache until almost 24 hours had gone by. I think that had a lot to do with the vomiting. This time I took my Imitrex at 5:30 pm the day of chemo, as soon as I could feel the headache really settling into migraine-mode. I think that, plus using the Zofran during the first 24 hours, is key to handling the nausea for me. Once the headache is gone, the phenergan will handle the nausea just fine.
The other good news is that my brain seems more clear this time around. Possibly heading the headache off at the pass helped with that as well. I'm just a little slower on my crossword puzzles, but I am finishing them at the same rate as I was before the chemo. Last time around, I couldn't finish my puzzles for about a week. So I think taking care of the headache early on is key to dealing with a number of the side effects I had trouble with in the first week.
I've been reading up on Zofran and have learned that one of its rare side effects is hiccups. So that explains why I was up all night on Tuesday hiccuping. I'll take that over vomiting any day!
posted by Karen Weber Thursday, June 22, 2000
Friday, June 23, 2000
I think I am coming down with the cold Rick has been fighting for the last week. Sigh. Just what I need. Didn't take any medicine last night, and had trouble with the hot flashes and queasiness. Didn't sleep very well. I don't think I drank enough yesterday. Water wasn't sitting well and I didn't get up often enough to refresh the ice to keep it tasting good. I was so tired yesterday I could hardly see straight. I'm going to try to keep my ice water fresh today, no matter how tired I am. And I'm going to drink it!
posted by Karen Weber Friday, June 23, 2000
Saturday, June 24, 2000
I was queasy all day yesterday. It wasn't very pleasant. Drinking seems to make me more queasy, but I know I need to do it. I'm going to send Rick out for some salty snacks today. I'm also going to try sucking on hard candies to help the queasiness. Today, I am having the same sharp, stabbing pains in my mid-back that I had on the Saturday after my last chemo treatment. At least this time I was in my recliner when they hit and not in the shower. I've got the ice pack on my back and as soon as I've eaten something, I'll take a pain pill. Man, I was hoping those pains were a fluke last time.An apple a day really DOES keep the doctor away: Phytochemicals in fresh apples may combine to inhibit tumor cell proliferation
posted by Karen Weber Saturday, June 24, 2000