I could not be more upset today than I am right now. I called the oncologists office this morning to see when I could come in to have my Herceptin treatment. (Just to recap ... the office closed Friday due to the iffy weather and I sat around with my dad and brother for an hour waiting to find out what I was supposed to do. I never heard from anyone). One of the nurses called me back this morning and left a message while I was in a meeting. She said that I was on the schedule for 9:30am. UGH! No one had called to reschedule! SO FRUSTRATING! I left work and drove over to the office without an appointment. I explained how crappy I was treated on Friday and that they needed to fit me in today. I would have played the cancer card had I not been in an office with a bunch of cancer patients. Doesn't get you too far in that office. Haha!
I had my treatment despite not prepping my port with numbing cream. I felt every inch of that large, hollow needle get shoved into the quarter-sized contraption under my skin, above my still swollen and bruised breast. Excruciating! I sat there for an hour in the chair getting pumped with medication watching 'Price is Right' and 'What Not to Wear' on TLC trying desperately not to cry. I was alone, frustrated and scared. However, my nurse came to my rescue sensing I was at a breaking point. She sat and talked with me and was incredibly upset by my re-telling of what had happened on Friday. She left me to write an e-mail to the head of the practice. My nurse from last time, Julie, came to check on me also. I love them!
My blood count came back stellar. YES! The range for someones white blood count having my treatment is 4.1-10.9 and my count is 17.7. YAY little 100-pound body! That means the shot I gave myself in the stomach 24 hours after treatment is working. They also looked at my platelets. The range is 140-440 and I am at 292, which is average. Very good, indeed. They checked my mouth and suggested salt and baking soda mixed into water to rinse with throughout the day, then rinsing with Mylanta at night. Weird, huh? They said it leaves a soothing coat on your mouth. They were shocked that I had no sores. I'd like to take this moment to thank smoothies and ice cream for that!!! They checked my skin and lips which are in really bad shape. I am dry and peeling. They suggest cancer patients use Utterly Smooth lotion for their skin and bee's wax for their lips. Chapstick and other lip moisturizers have an ingredient called methylparaben, which doesn't help chemo patients. I am going to be SO smart when all this is over.
The nurses also checked my scalp ... and my hair is starting to fall out. (GASP!) I told them it was tingling and itching. It is hard to explain, but it feels like my scalp is numb and my hair is just floating there. They said over the next 2-3 days I will see a lot of hair loss and by Friday I will probably be almost, if not completely, bald. Thank goodness I love my wigs!!! I can't wait for Joey and I to take a picture of our bald heads together. LOL.
I made an appointment to meet with the genetics specialist on Wednesday at INOVA Fairfax. I will have an extensive interview with her about my family's medical history, then they will take lots of blood. Hmm ... more needles. Yippee! The blood work gets sent to Utah for DNA testing. They look at whether I am a carrier of the breast cancer gene and how likely I am to have cancer again. They compare the lab work to my family history to get the best possible analysis. Kind of cool when you think about it. Apparently this process/results take awhile, so I am happy to kick it off now.
I feel pretty crappy from the Herceptin treatment. It is an antibody, so equate it to the way you feel after getting the flu shot. That's how I feel every Herceptin treatment (Friday's) for about 24 hours. Not fun, but still manageable. In addition, my heart acts weird, meaning I can feel it beating off rhythm and just being all around lazy. The heart apparently repairs itself 100% once treatment is over. Stupid cancer!
Today has been frustrating all around. I'd like to just go home and curl up under the covers.
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