Side Effects

So here's the short of it,
I'm feeling good again today, but let me tell you about some of the side effects of my medicine cocktail!

And here's the long

It's hard for me to believe that I'm feeling so good. I was tired enough to sleep in a little this morning, but I've had good energy today and didn't really get too tired until about 4:30 this afternoon. Of course, I'm not working or really doing any hard labor. But I am up and moving around. I will say that about 4:30 I started to feel like I was trying to walk through water.

My Dad was moved from Erlanger to Kindred Hospital this afternoon. They specialize in ventilator weaning, and I am very hopeful that this move will bring the possibility of greater recovery. Alan and I went for a visit after he got settled in. The move made him awfully tired, but it was easy to tell that he was glad to be moved. Mom is spending the night with him. Check out his progress on Emily and Gene's blog.

Maybe this would be a good post to describe some of the crazy side effects of my medicines!

About a week ago, the bottoms of my feet and the palms of my hands started to burn. Now it wasn't all the time, but there would be periods of time that I thought I knew what those guys that walk on live coals must feel. Then last Wednesday night, I got up about four times to go and stand on the cool tile floor of the den! When I told my oncology nurse, she said it was the beginning of neuropathy and I got sent home with a prescription to help with that.

About the same time as my feet and hands started to burn, I began to have horrible heartburn in the evenings. I started to take some over the counter acid reducers and they helped some, but after my appointment last week, I came home with a prescription for that too!

I still have to take one medicine to control diarrhea! And I would guess that after my big treatment this coming Friday, I may have to take all three of them again.

I think one of the reasons I've felt so good for the last two or three days, is that my taste is returning a little. From my first treatment, food has either not had much taste (tomatoes just were like a mushy texture in my mouth with no taste at all) or things that I used to like just had a horrible taste.

My hair is now buzzed, but of course it's still falling out. At least now it's not long hair falling all over the place! It's funny on reflection, that I referred to my short hair as long from this buzz cut place I'm in! I do notice that I'm not accustomed to the breeze blowing across my bare head. It makes me feel a little chillier some times. My Mom has cautioned me to be careful not to get my head sunburned.

This is an interesting symptom, I think - I have always had some ear wax. As my daughter Liga used to say, I needed to "wax out" my ears from time to time. Well, it appears that I'm not really producing much ear wax now! Isn't that a strange thing.

I have some red dots showing up on my skin. A couple of them are on my face, but they are mostly on my arms and legs. I haven't seen this listed on any of the medication side effects lists. I'll be sure to ask about it on Friday when I go in for my next treatment.

And of course my fatigue, my low blood counts that put me on house arrest, and any other odd sensations I have from time to time can probably be attributed to the two big meds.

My next treatment, this coming Friday, is one of the "big" ones. I'll get Taxotere, Carboplatin, and Herceptin. As I recall, the most noticeable side effects the first time were flu-like symptoms, diarrhea, and an incredible fatigue. I'm hoping that each time I have one of these the side effects get a little easier.

In the meantime, I've got a few more days where I'm anticipating feeling really good.