Chemo Done, Now What?

jlheuer

Jun 3

Last Thursday was my last scheduled chemotherapy infusion. This would be number six out of six. I was apprehensive about this treatment because after number five the side effects really ramped up. The side effects weren't great after number 4 so the doctor had reduced the stronger drug, Taxol, by 25% but after #5 the neuropathy seemed to get worse. This was disappointing since I used the frozen mittens and booties to mitigate the tingling and numbness. But, who knows, maybe it would have been far worse if I hadn't tried.

Besides the increased neuropathy I also had a lot more fatigue and balance issues. Twice I had to go into the Cancer Center for fluids because of dehydration. Gotta get my electrolytes up! Joint pain, some rough spots on my lips and blurry vision also were evident. Just before chemo #6 I reported all of this to my doctor.

He was most worried about the neuropathy. There is no cure for peripheral neuropathy and since I seemed to be only in stage one the doctor decided to not give me the Taxol drug at all. He told me that at this point the benefit of more Taxol would be minimal on the cancer compared to the damage on my nerves. And like I said, you don't come back from nerve damage. I completely agreed with him. I need these fingers to be operational. So chemo #6 was only two hours instead of five.

And I have noticed a difference. This time around I had a lot of fatigue and what I call, the wobblies. But no joint pain. Fingers had some numbness and toes were tingly and numby but not any worse than I have previously experienced. I might even say my hands seemed pretty good. I called my eye doctor about the vision issue and she has me taking preservative-free eye drops every 2-3 hours and that has also helped.

So? What's next?

Well, the doc now wants me to go for a Radiation Consult. That will determine my options going forward. Somewhere in there will be another CT scan because at this point we do not know if the mass has shrunk more since the last couple of treatments. I am hoping for complete eradication but I think the doctor will be happy with maintenance.

Until that happens I am just going to enjoy the fact that I am feeling pretty good right now. I even did some yard work yesterday and planted some basil and cilantro.Today we went to see the movie, Top Gun: Maverick. Mindless fun! Wow special effects! Anything that takes your mind off your problems for two hours can't be bad. And anyway, you can't worry until there is something to actually worry about.

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