Chemo #6 & Taxol - Dehydration got me again!

I had full intentions of blogging after each chemo but procrastination and being a slacker has taken over! It's really hard to keep up with myself these days but I'm trying! Dealing with cancer takes up your entire life and not a moment goes by without me thinking about it or doing something related to it. I was talking to a friend who is in the very end stages of reconstructive surgery and she mentioned that now she has all this extra time that was devoted to cancer. Quite frankly, she doesn't know what to do with it! I cannot wait to have that feeling myself!

The Taxol treatment I'm on now has been tough on me but in a different way than the AC treatment. I don't know if it's fair to say that this is "easier" but it has been a little more tolerable to deal with. For my second round of Taxol I brought my dad with me to be my chemo buddy.  We marched around Moffitt and he got to experience the full effect of what I do on chemo day. I think this is something everyone should try and do for a loved once if possible. My check in time was at 9am and like always, they were backed up a couple hours so we were there the ENTIRE day and left in the evening at some point. It is annoying when it's backed up but you have to consider that things happen out of your control and it's really not that big of a deal. My dad doesn't live nearby so it was nice to be able to spend time with him even if it was at a cancer hospital!

The best way to get your name called is to get a warm blanket and make yourself comfy! That's exactly what I did and that is what happened within about 5 minutes........"FAY"!

After I get home from chemo I really try to just take it easy the next few days. This second Taxol treatment had me exhausted and I just could not get out of bed. I tried to drink water but that's hard to do when you're sleeping! So by Friday (3 days later) I felt like crap but went to work to try and get caught up.  That lasted all of about 15 minutes and I couldn't catch my breath. I was lightheaded and just felt weak. My husband put me in my mom's car and we headed to Moffitt to get evaluated. They did a ECHO cardiogram, CT scan, and Bloodwork....... all to find out I was just really dehydrated! They pumped me with a liter of fluids and I was back to normal! I can't believe how easy it is to get dehydrated and how it knocks me on my ass.

Another side effect I get with Taxol is PAIN! My legs hurt, especially my hips and femur. It's hard to explain but they hurt all over and my arms often hurt too. I tried Vicodan and Percocet but they didn't seem to do the trick. Now they have me on Oxycodone 5mg IR (as needed) and it works....usually. I also take Mobic on a daily basis.  I'm sharing this information for anyone out there trying to find something that works. We are all so different and have to try different meds until we find the ones that work!

Now this side effect may gross you out! Taxol is hard on the nails and I have been lucky enough to only have ONE toenail with problems.  It started as a red spot just after my first round of Taxol and got worse over time. It appears more painful that it really was, I just felt a little pressure. When my PA saw it last week (middle image) she immediately put me on some antibiotics so now it's looking "normal" again (bottom image). I am fairly sure this toe nail will fall off and I'm making sure that doesn't happen until it's ready! Some patients get this on all their nails so I consider myself lucky to just have one at this point. I sure do miss getting pedicures and CANNOT WAIT to be able to schedule one soon!

Nail infection oldest (top) to newest (bottom)

Now a blog wouldn't be complete if it didn't have a picture of one of my furbabies that help get me through all of this. This is Moxy and she's not very good at sharing me!

Thanks for reading!