Taxol 7, Part 1 and 2

Part 1

Another delay.

When I met with my doctors on Tuesday, they told me that my counts were too low for treatment. The strangest part was that I felt totally fine even though my counts were at their lowest point (0.9). Still can’t figure that one out.

While every delay is super disappointing, I was a little more okay with this one. Matt was traveling in London this week and I was scheduled to get Taxol 7 & Carbo 3. I have been able to tolerate the Taxol really well (with the exception of the itchy feet) but the Carboplatin seems to hit me a little harder. Before the delay, I was already complaining to Matthew about having to do the nights and mornings with Aidan & Cooper by myself while probably not feeling my best. Also, my birthday was also coming up that week and I had a few celebrations planned that I wanted to feel good for. So, all-in-all, I wasn’t happy about the delay, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

So I took the week to really rest up. I spent ALL DAY Wednesday and Thursday in bed, went to acupuncture twice and celebrated my birthday the best that I could. Overall, I felt really good, except for the occasional itchiness.

Part 2

Day 1, Treatment Day (Tuesday): The following Tuesday I went back to NYU and my counts were up to 1.2! While meeting with my oncologist, we talked about the only real side effect that I have been experiencing – itchy feet. While I am not feeling itchy all the time, I have been experiencing “itchy spells” where my feet start to itch uncontrollably for about 20 minutes (sometimes longer). It is extremely uncomfortable, but then it goes away.

My doctor mentioned that this is not a typical side effect of Taxol and they believe that this actually could be a precursor to neuropathy. For some, neuropathy is temporary but for others it can be permanent so they want to take extra precautions and monitor my itching closely. There was some debate about lowering the dose of Taxol that I am getting, but it was decided that it is not necessary to do so at this point.

Because this treatment included Taxol and Carboplatin it took a very long time. I didn’t get home until almost 2pm and was exhausted. I took a nap and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Day 2 (Wednesday): I spent the entire day in bed resting and felt not great. I was foggy and didn’t feel sharp. It was frustrating because usually I am unaffected by the treatments but today was not a great day. 
At the end of the day, Cooper went to his Mimi’s house and I had to take Aidan to a friend’s birthday party. He had been talking about going to the party all day so I didn’t even consider missing it. After laying in bed all day, it actually felt really good to get out. 

Day 3 (Thursday): I woke up feeling pretty good. Matt and I took Aidan out for a special breakfast and Aidan helped me at the supermarket. I felt well enough to walk to the West Village to meet a friend for coffee. It was a gorgeous day and it felt really good to move my body. After coffee I walked all the way home instead of taking a cab. It just felt wasteful to not take advantage of the beautiful weather but I was exhausted when I got home and spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. I may have overdone it but it was worth it.

Day 4 (Friday): Unfortunately I still didn’t feel like my normal self by Friday. With the Taxol, I am able to bounce back right away but the Carbo really hits me. I spent the day relaxing, went for a walk, got a manicure, and had an early dinner date with Matt.

Also – strangely, I didn’t experience any itching this week. My doctors prescribed me a new medication to start when the itching came back and it has not returned. I am not sure if that means that it won’t happen again ever or if for some reason my body is tolerating the Taxol differently, but I am grateful for a week of no itching.

Chemo Status:

7 Taxol down, 5 to go!

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