25 E-mail: 5th chemo

5/28/2006

I’ve had 5 out of 8 treatments now. The 5th chemo was this last Thursday and it was the first round of Taxol. Friday I had energy. I felt great.

Saturday morning I woke up with aching muscles and a sore throat. I had tons of energy at first as my mom had covered Kelric night duty and I got to sleep late (until 6:30 a.m.!). Once I woke up I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got an early start on the day.

I needed that head start because my energy quickly dropped as my muscles ached more. My cousin Lesley and her sweet 4-year-old son Nathan came over mid-morning and we had a lovely visit. By the time she and Nathan left in the early afternoon I was very tired. Kelric made it difficult to nap during the afternoon but I got to sleep about an hour out of the two hours I tried to rest.

Taxol is famous for producing flu-like symptoms. If I’m lucky I’ll escape the bone pain and mouth sores. 87% of people lose their hair on Taxol so I don’t expect my hair to grow back yet. I crept around the house Saturday sore and achy as though I had done hours of intense yard work. Nausea has been almost non-existent and that is very, very nice.

I cried Thursday morning before treatment because I’m tired of feeling beat up from chemotherapy and I didn’t know what this new poison would do to me. It was scary to switch to something new. Let’s forget for a moment that I felt nauseated at some point every day from treatment #4 to treatment #5. That’s 14 days of nausea. You would think I would be jumping up and down with excitement to get away from the AC combo that was making life so uncomfortable, but I had been talking to people about Taxol and its sister drug Taxotere, and the side effects were sounding like they could collectively be worse than 14 days of nausea.

So far Taxol hasn’t been so bad. My taste buds are messed up again. I’m sucking down Blue Sky peach sodas and iced tea because water doesn’t taste right. Even ice cream tastes different, but at least it doesn’t taste bad and the coldness helps my throat. I’m supposed to keep out of the sun or wear lots of sun screen because Taxol creates sensitivity to sunlight. I was worried I would lose my toenails but my oncologist said that’s more common with Taxotere. Both drugs come from the yew tree, but I’ve heard that Taxotere is somehow more synthetic. I tried researching the difference online but didn’t learn anything useful. I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Last night was interesting. As the Taxol worked its way through my system, different places would ache. First it was just my shoulders and upper arms. Then the glands in my neck hurt. Then my jaw hurt. My thighs hurt in the afternoon. That went away and my knees hurt in the evening. By this morning my ankles hurt and now all of those aches have faded away. I have a new respect for what people suffering from arthritis go through. The drop in energy is frustrating because it makes it hard to get things done around the house, but temporary aches are WAY better than nausea.

Guy told me that I haven’t gotten depressed like I did when the nausea from the AC treatments would hit me. Let’s hear it for no depression! :-)

That’s how it is for now. Life’s tough but simple pleasures keep it sweet, like the way little Kelric will grin ear to ear at a pattern of light on the wall.

Angela

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