Guys, I am officially half way through chemo. I have 6 more to go. To be honest, this journey feels like it has taken forever. 3 treatments postponed just makes the time drag on. I am starting to get really antsy.
Can you tell I am ready to be done?!
The great news is hopefully I will have no more treatments postponed. My Doctor feels he has found a way to keep my neutrophils in a good place. I talked about this shot before in a previous post. The G shot. This shot is a bone marrow shot that helps produce white blood cells especially the neutrophils. Neutrophils are so important for our body to have. They help fight off infections. For cancer patients, this is something Doctors pay close attention too. So moving forward, after every chemo treatment (every other Thursday) I will follow-up with a G shot. This shot causes your bones to ache and the crazy part, Claritin is what they recommend you take for the pain. Mind Blown! But the day after you get the shot, you feel sluggish and your bones hurt. For me, staying still and not moving is the best. When I get up and move around, I feel it mostly in my ribs and hips. Sometimes in my chest area and it almost feels like heartburn.
After round 6 last week, I am feeling good. My neuropathy has kicked in more to my right hand, but it has only effected two fingers. So weird. The two fingers just go numb and tingle randomly. It happened a couple of times throughout the day on Sunday and Monday. I haven’t felt nauseous, which I am happy. I am still loosing lots of hair and I have noticed my hair isn’t growing as fast as it normal did before treatments started. Well, to me I feel like it is more than the normal amount. But thank goodness I have very thick hair.
Food and my appetite feel like it is slowly improving a little bit, but not much. Things either sound horrible, some items sound okay were I will take a couple bites, or something sound really good. I have been snacking (nuts, cheeses, hummus, berries) more instead of eating full meals. It seems to be easier for me. I have cravings, which is weird. I didn’t think going through chemo I would. Soy vanilla chai, tuna fish sandwiches with Lays potato chips, and a classic cheese burger with just mustard/ketchup are my cravings right now. Lol. All in all, I just make sure I put something in my stomach and I try to make sure what I choose is healthy. I have lost a lot of weight. I don’t feel like it has been too much to the point I need to worry, but it is something I need to look out for. I really don’t want to get to the point that I look “sick” due to my weight. I GOTTA EAT!
Sound 7 of chemo is next Thursday (Jan. 18th). I am looking forward to seeing where my neutrophils are at. Hopefully, the number will continue to be above a 2 from this point forward. When round 6 was postponed, my neutrophils were 0.5, not good. I got three days of G shots in a row and when I went in the following week in hopes round 6 can happen, my neutrophils bumped up to a 5.5. Clearly, the G shots help.
Something I have thought about a lot is if 3 treatments have not been postponed, I would have completed 8 chemo treatments and only have 4 more to go. But, of course life can throw us a curve ball and some things never happen how we want it to. I remind myself, I cannot think about how many treatments I could be at, but focus on the “NOW” and keep pushing along. I will be done soon and I cannot wait to announce when I am cancer free and a cancer survivor. Gives me goosebumps and puts a smile on my face!
#BeBrave
xoxo,
Audrey
Auggie's Bloggie 