More chemo than I thought...

Well, I started my second course of chemo on Thursday and no complaints so far. Of course, I feel very apprehensive saying this because you never know what will hit me in the next few days. Unfortunately, I wasn't completely paying attention to my oncologist when he was explaining the chemo to me originally. Of course, I think I was in total shock at the time so this is not surprising. What I found out on Thursday was that I have chemo 2 weeks out of 3 in the cycle. I thought I had chemo every three weeks. Wrong. So instead of getting 4 rounds of chemo, I am really getting 8. I have chemo week 1 and week 2 and then only Herceptin on week 3. Cripes! Just when I was coming to terms with the bad news of actually having chemo again, then I find out I'm up for more! When am I going to get a break here? But perhaps now?... because the chemo hasn't seemed too bad so far.

I have to tell you that I was really anxious because I did a little too much Internet reading beforehand about the drugs. However, the Navelbine went in just fine and no problems. Next was the Gemzar infusion for 90 minutes. Well, after maybe 5 or 10 minutes, I started to feel pain in my arm and it was moving up my arm towards my shoulder. I told the nurse and she gave me a hot compress and more anti-anxiety drugs. I'm not sure if this was in my head or real because the heating pad helped at first but stopped when it got cooler. Luckily, I fell back asleep and woke up when I was getting my Herceptin IV, which comes last and there was no longer any pain.

So far (crossing my fingers), I haven't really had any affects from the chemo yet. I don't feel nauseous or really tired yet. It may hit me after the second round considering I only have a week in between doses.

A bullet point update on other things about me (because I heard that long blogs are boring and I am known for being wordy):

• I have been noticing that I have very few long eyelashes left on my lower lids... they fell out. But I do have a crop of very small eyelashes growing in to replace them. My top eyelashes fared ok and for the most part, are still there.
• I am still having blurred vision when I wear my contact lenses and still need my glasses to see clearly. I usually try my contacts out again on the weekend to see how things are going. I think my eyes have improved some but I still have blurred vision, mostly in my left eye which sucks. I hate glasses.
• I am having hot flashes during the day as well as night. Doc says this is to be expected since I have lower hormone levels because of the chemo.
• Saw my orthorpeodic surgeon again and he set me up with physiotherapy three times a week for a month and OKed me on riding a bike...only a recumbent bike because it would be easier on my back. So I'm going to try to exercise this weekend for the first time in a long, long time. Can't wait.

Have a great weekend!
Maureen