29 E-mail: surviving treatment 6 of 8

6/11/2006

It’s gone pretty well this time. The neuropathy is back. Instead of waiting 8 days to kick in I felt it the same day as my last treatment, but all things considered it’s not so bad. It just means I have to make a few more corrections as I type unless I concentrate harder.

What I took to be normal signs of Taxol side effects two Saturdays ago must have been the beginning of my infection, virus or bacterial or whatever it was. The muscle aches and extreme fatigue have left me alone so far. A new anti-nausea regimen has kept things under control with my tummy. My oncologist had my dosage of Neulasta cut in half and that has kept away the lower back pain (another normal side effect of Taxol).

It turns out that an over-manufacture of white blood cells means that pressure builds up in the hips and lower back as all those white blood cells push to be released into the blood stream. That’s what causes the back pain. When I had my CBC (complete blood count) taken last Monday we saw that my white blood cell count was twice as high as the high end of normal! The Neulasta was working too well. Actually, the dosage worked fine with the Adriamycin/Cytoxan combination and the Taxol required an adjustment. Now that it’s been adjusted I have one less thing attacking me and it’s so nice!

I also haven’t felt the stabbing pains in my joints this time. I don’t know if that will come later or if I’ve escaped it altogether. So far the only annoyance from my last treatment has been a swinging pendulum of feeling too hot and then too cold. I keep taking my head coverings off and putting them back on to adjust for temperature fluctuations. I don’t think I’ve having hot flashes. I just get a hot head sometimes. Maybe it’s because my hair is growing back. I suppose I’m not losing as much heat through my head as I did when it was completely bald.

I am grateful to not be so sick. I’m a little bit tired, but all things considered I have far more energy than I expected.

I think the Kelric factor helps as well. He smiles so much that I find myself smiling more as I talk to and play with my baby. I can’t think of a better, more enjoyable distraction.

We think his hair is going to settle into a strawberry blond color, and his big eyes are definitely bright blue. He’s beginning to eat more at a time and to sleep longer at night. Kelric seems to be thriving at his Montessori school with plenty of stimulation and tender loving care. His teachers have told us we got lucky with such a sweet, good-natured baby. He even enjoys bath time now. I think it helps that I figured out not to make the water so warm. It also helps that he gets to sit in his baby bath tub instead of resting on the little mesh thing above the bath water. I think he feels more secure laying in the tub. He finally christened the wall during a diaper change yesterday and this morning for the first time he managed to pee on me! Oh yes, we are having all kinds of fun in baby land.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. I had my mom take shots of me in various stages of head undress as I played with Kelric on the back porch. Kelric thinks my scarf is interesting. I think the black and white patterns stimulate him. I hear Guy playing with him in the living room. Kelric is cooing and talking to his daddy. Time for me to go. :-)

Cheers,
Angela

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