Day 1, Treatment Day (Tuesday): After a busy Memorial Day weekend with my family, I walked into to my fourth and final AC treatment on Tuesday morning. This treatment felt different because we didn’t get home from our weekend away until Monday night so I didn’t have as much time to mentally prepare. Actually, at dinner on Monday night at my parent’s country club Matt and I realized that we forgot that I had chemo the next day. I guess in a way that is a good thing because I was able to mentally disconnect from my treatment and just enjoy my weekend, but it also meant that I wasn’t doing any of the things that I have been doing to get ready for chemo like relaxing, taking it easy, and drinking lots and lots of water.
During my time with my oncologist we discussed the plan for my next round of treatment with Taxol and Carboplatin. I will have 12 weekly Taxol treatments, 4 of which will also include Carboplatin. She explained that the weekly Taxol treatments will be much less harsh on my system but I will still need to take care of myself as my immune system is still compromised. The treatments that have both Taxol and Carboplatin may be a bit more painful. The side effects of these drugs are diffferent from the AC. Instead of fatigue and nausea, I should look out for bone pain and neuropathy (numbness) in my fingers and toes. I will have to wear ice gloves and booties during the treatments to prevent the Taxol from getting to my fingers and toes. Everyone has been telling me that the Taxol treatments will be so much more manageable than the AC but I am afraid to get my hopes up.
Actual chemo was pretty uneventful. Thanks to Briana, I had a delicious coconut popsicle to eat during the Adriamycin. Towards the end of my treatment I started to feel tired. My skin looked very pale and I was anxious to get home. Usually, I feel totally fine and Matt and I go out for lunch but I was not feeling up to it. We took a cab home and I got right into bed for the rest of the day.
Day 2 (Wednesday): I woke up feeling just okay. I couldn’t really help the boys get ready for school (thanks Matt) and was happy that Shelby was free to take me to NYU to get my shot. I felt well enough to walk to and from the hospital but other than that, I spent the whole day in bed again.
Day 3 (Thursday): I woke up still not feeling great but today was was a big day and I was determined to feel my best. Aidan had his final CenterStage performance in the afternoon and I had my friends bridal shower at night. I was going to do whatever it took to make it to both of those events. I went to acupuncture in the morning, hoping that it would give me a burst of good energy and spent the whole day resting.
I went to Aidan’s performance and he was incredible. While I knew that he knew the words and dance moves to all of the songs, he spent most of his time on stage smiling, lifting his shirt up to show the audience his cute tummy and occasionally singing along. Mommy was proud.
Then, I went all the way to the UWS for the bridal shower. It was beautiful and Rachel was glowing. I wasn’t feeling my best and the shower didn’t start until 7pm, so I left early when I started feeling really tired. I had to miss her bachelorette party in Miami because of my treatments so I was extra happy that I was able to be a part of her shower.
Day 4 (Friday): I guess that I overdid it a little on Thursday because when I woke up on Friday I could not even get out of bed. I stayed in bed all morning and felt like I was in a fog. I made myself breakfast at home and did not have the energy to do anything but lay. Finally, at about 2pm I felt hungry again and was in the mood for pizza. I decided that I was going to walk to a local spot to get a slice. It took me 45 minutes to get myself together to leave the apartment. I felt like I was moving in slow motion.
That night we celebrated all of the family May birthdays (Matt, Jason & Chris) at our apartment. I was still feeling pretty out of it but I pulled myself together.
Day 5 (Saturday) and beyond: Even though I was still feeling pretty tired, I was still able to do fun things over the weekend. We had a play date and went out for lunch on Saturday and went out for dinner on Saturday night (with a long nap in between). On Sunday night we had family over for dinner and then Matt left for London for the week. Thankfully by that point I was feeling comfortable with him leaving.
With all of my other treatments I felt pretty good by Friday, but this time Friday was the worst day. I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of how my body would bounce back after each treatment but this round proved that as much as I would like to be able to predict how I am going to feel, I have absolutely no control over this. I can try to help myself by eating well and resting but I just have to accept that each treatment is going to effect my body differently and I have no choice but to roll with it.
Chemo Status:
FInished with AC (YAY!!)
12 rounds of Taxol (4 with Carboplatin) starting on June 11th. Hopefully it will be as manageable as everyone says!
#shaystrong 