6 Down, 10 to go

Friday was chemo treatment number 6 and the second treatment of Taxol/ Herceptin. Prior to treatment, I had to get my blood work taken and have an appointment with the oncologist. Since it was Good Friday, the office was going to be closed in the afternoon but the doctor had made me her last appointment of the day. When I got to the doctor’s office it was locked…Wes and I thought they had left. But a nurse saw me and we were taken back for our appointment. We were the only ones in the office- Me, Wes, the doctor and nurse. The appointment went- the doctor reduced the Benedryl and steroids for the chemo based on my initial experience with Taxol/Herceptin. Next appointment is on April 11^th.

Robin came with me to chemo this week. It is fun having someone new come because after 6 times, chemo has lost any charm that the new process initially had. We had a nurse, Linda, that I have had twice before. I like her a lot and even noticed that she had her hair cut since last week. It is a bit sad that I am keeping up with the nurses’ beauty habits. I was excited to have a lower amount of Benedryl because last time I was super loopy. This time, Robin described me as acting like I was inebriated and she was laughing at me- in a good way. Linda was super efficient and after giving me the Decadron and Benedryl she gave me my 30 minute Herceptin I.V. No issues. Then she started me out slowly on the Taxol+- in case of allergic reaction. I had no issues and after 30 minutes of the slow drip, it was full steam ahead with the Taxol. We were done 2 hours earlier than last week. This week we should be a half hour more efficient.

This week my blood work showed signs of rebounding from the AC treatment. My white cells and platelets were up. My red blood cells and hemoglobin however were a bit lower than last week. They are causing me to be anemic and it might explain why I am really tired…you know besides the chemo. So I was thinking about how to improve that when Robin and I overheard a woman come into the bed next to me. She had come in for the past 3 days trying to improve her blood counts. Her white blood cell count was at 0.3 and normal range is 11-16. She was in for a transfusion of plasma and was in tears because her body was not cooperating. It really made me take pause and be thankful for how well my body has taken the chemo and responded to the treatment. This week, treatment number 7!