Getting the cancer thing down

Driving in to my infusion appointment on Wednesday, I had a little bit of an inkling of why people sometimes stop going to their treatments. When you've been feeling good for a while, it's hard to go back in, knowing you're subjecting yourself to more unpleasantness. It's one thing when something happens to you that you don't like, but it's another to willingly make it happen! I'd had two treatments that went well, and surely it will start getting worse now, right?

Surprisingly, no. So far, this cycle has been just as easy as the last two. In fact, the first day was the only day I had any nausea. Like with the first two treatments, I started feeling a hint of it around four hours after infusion ended, so I put on the Relief Band to head it off and that did the trick. At bedtime, I decided I didn't want to wear the band all night, so I took meds and they worked great. The next morning (yesterday), I felt just fine and didn't need anything. Today I'm maybe a little tired, but still no nausea. Score! I got a lot of sleep last night and took a nap this afternoon, so I'm feeling OK and am going to try to take a little walk after dinner. I'll probably feel more fatigue over the weekend and for a couple more days after. But really, this is all pretty tolerable so far. And even if it gets worse, that's less time than I originally thought I'd spend being miserable.

So this was number three of the four treatments that are supposed to be harder, then I switch to Taxol which is supposed to be easier although there's generally more bone pain. It was suggested I take Claritin for that, and also for the pain/acheyness that comes with neulasta so I started taking that yesterday. Usually Saturday is when I start feeling the effects of that, so we'll see if it works. So far, the mouth sores have stayed under control, I assume thanks to the rinses I still do three times a day. No metallic or chemical taste yet, thankfully. The stubble on my head is getting thinner. My nose drips and I sneeze a lot, probably because of thinner mucus membranes making me more sensitive. If I eat anything too spicy, I get a little indigestion but the Pepcid is working great to handle that.

So I'm kind of feeling like I've got this whole thing down, at least the chemo part. I've heard every piece of advice there is about five times, I've got my routine down, and I know what to expect. I think I'm lucky in that it isn't affecting me as badly as it could. I'm getting used to the idea of a bilateral mastectomy...even though I don't know for sure that's necessary yet, I'm feeling pretty sure it will be. Looking forward to watching the tumor get just a little smaller every day. This might sound weird, but I spend a lot of time visualizing the cancer cells dying off and flushing out. I don't know if that kind of thing really works, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?