Survivor Files: Chemo #5...New Protocol

So, nothing came of my trip to the hospital that could stop us from moving forward with the new chemo protocol. Starting today, I am on Taxol which has different side effects but supposedly not so bad. We will see in the coming days how this works.

The scary part that made me dread coming this morning was the fact that this particular drug causes more reactions in the first couple of times it is given. As you see, David joined me today to be close as a support if anything went amiss.

Funny thing, as I got prepared to start I get an anti-nausea medicine through the port along with benadryl (to help stop some of that reaction) and something else that I can't really remember what it does. So, all and all it takes 30-40 minutes to get started with the actual chemo drug.

When the nurse came back to see me before starting the Taxol, my neck had become bright red and she said it looked like I was reacting before I even started the drug. Well, I can work myself up to be anxious and nervous and along with that comes flushing of my skin. That is in my genes. I figured it was just that but still, we had to wait about 30 minutes for it to go away so that the nurse could tell during the first 15 minutes of treatment if I was going to "flush" or not. It is the first sign that I am not tolerating it well.

That made me a little more nervous. But...thirty minutes later and we were ready to start. I sat and talked to this nurse who I hadn't seen before today. I don't know if she is new or transferred from another place or what but we talked through the first 15 minutes until she said "okay, looks like you're good!" Whew!

45 minutes went by and we were on our way. So now, every week I get to do this until December 20th. Hopefully no more trips to the hospital along the way! I met with my oncologist before chemo today and we were trying to get to the bottom of my headache I have had pretty persistently since being in the hospital. My eyes have really be bothering me too. She asked me if I had tried Excedrin Migraine. Hmm...I thought, migraine. With everything else going on I have forgotten that I am sometimes prone to migraines. I came home, took my Excedrin Migraine and within an hour my headache was gone and my eyes felt much better too! Glad to have my doctors to remind me of the things I forget!