My Cancer Journey

Eleven weeks after my last infusion of Kadcyla my body still seems to think I am receiving treatments. Some of the side effects still occur about the same time they did when I was getting treatments. They are not as severe, and do not last as long, but they happen almost like clockwork. My energy level is pretty much back to how it was pre-cancer. Sleeping has never been one of my superpowers, but it got worse when I started getting the infusions. It is sometimes difficult to fall asleep, and sleeping beyond 6:30 in the morning is late for me. Even though I try hard, my body very rarely lets me nap.  The brain fog is almost gone. It feels terrific to be almost back to my normal self. Not having so much brain fog so nice, but it also means my obnoxious self comes out more frequently. Now Craig must deal with me not agreeing with him all the time again. On the good side, I am better able to control my temper. It is easier to keep myself from getting angry and frustrated. The migraine...

Having the port, port-a-cath, was a good decision for me. It provided access to a vein easily so that a nurse did not have to find one every three weeks when I had my treatments. She just needed to find the port and put the needle through my skin. It had a catheter connected to it that accessed a good vein below my left collarbone. It worked perfectly.  Tuesday, January 14, 2025, four weeks after my last Kadcyla treatment, my surgeon removed the purple heart, my port. The port had not hurt, or really bothered me much, but I did not want it in me any longer than I had to.  If you do not use the port for infusions, you need to go to the cancer center to have it flushed with a saline solution every three months to prevent infections. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but in order to do it, the nurse needs to access it as if you are going to get an infusion. The saline solution “tastes” like they are putting a chemical in your body. It’s nasty. It doesn’t take long, but why go thro...

Chemotherapy affects most of your body. It not only kills cancer cells, but also healthy ones. You notice it while going through treatment, but also long after you complete your infusions. Four months after my last chemo infusion I noticed that one of my toenails was darker. It kept getting darker until I felt it was getting loose. This picture was taken five months after my last treatment. It looked like I had dropped something on my toe, but I had not, and it did not hurt. I was mostly concerned that the nail would catch on something and get ripped off. About two months later, seven months after my last chemo infusion, the nail fell off. There was fortunately another one growing underneath. Now, two months later, about nine months after my last treatment, the nail looks normal. I’m happy to have it back. There is a nail on the other foot that looks a little darker than the others. Keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t fall off.  My fingernails have always been hard and strong....

On Thursday, January 10, I had two tests, an echocardiogram to make sure my heart had not been affected adversely by the Herceptin, and an MRI to see how well the tumors had reacted to the chemotherapy.    My heart looked good. It did not seem it was affected at all. Great news! I was, however, concerned about the MRI. The contrast (color) they put into my system to get a better picture, made me nauseous last time. Not to the point where I vomited, but I did not want to take a chance that would happen.    First, I thought to put Vick’s Mentholatum in my nostrils as the nausea was brought on by a chemical “smell,” but the smell did not enter through the nose, but from inside my body. Therefore, I did not think it would be possible to block the smell. Instead, I brought one of my anti-nausea pills, the sublingual (melt-in-your-mouth) Zofran. I took that right before the MRI and it worked great. No nausea!   The other concern was that the tumors had not shrunk enou...

I know others have different experiences, especially with drugs that are different from mine, Taxotere, Carboplatin, and Herceptin, but the infusion itself was not painful or uncomfortable for me. It was, however, very stressful and anxiety inducing. My blood pressure still shoots up every time I go to the hospital. It was also tiring to sit for such a long time. Because of he premeds I was pretty perky the day of and day after. So perky that it was difficult to sleep at night. Even though I was bloated from all the liquids and steroids, I wanted pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) for my meal after the infusion. It was delicious and perfect, and Craig was happy, because he likes it as well. It became our tradition to eat pho after all my infusions. I unfortunately associate pho with chemotherapy now, so I cannot eat it. It will hopefully change eventually. The day after the infusion, September 16, we went back to the hospital for my Neulasta injection. This pushes the bone marrow to create w...

The night after the port was placed on September 13, it was difficult to get comfortable while lying down. The incisions were tender, and because of my vertigo I could not lie on my back. Despite this I felt okay the next day. At least until the premeds I took to prepare for the chemotherapy got into my system. Because of the side effects of the chemo, I needed to take steroids, Dexamethasone, the day before, day of, and day after the treatments. This helps prevent nausea and vomiting as well as reduce inflammation. There are side effects from this as well, but will write about the side effects I had from all the drugs in a later post. My oncologist prescribed a bottle of 4mg pills, and wanted me to take two pills, 8mg, in the mornings, and two in the afternoons. She made sure I knew the pills could cause sleeplessness, so I should not take them too late in the day. I am not used to take a lot of pills, so did not realize that 3pm was too late for the afternoon dose. The drug made me j...