Feeling good, but no chemo!
Written Aug 19, 2011 4:50pm
After feeling great all week, I went in for chemo today, hoping that my blood work would show that my white blood cell count had gone up from last week, and that I was ready to get going on my chemo again. I am taking Taxol and Herceptin now. Taxol is the chemo drug, and Herceptin is another type of treatment that is very good, but is not really chemo. The Taxol is what I was hoping to get.
Unfortunately my white blood cell count is even lower than last week! I was able to get the Herceptin, but then I just went home after that. It made for a shorter day at the hospital, and I don’t get bad side effects from Herceptin like I do from the Taxol, but I felt disappointed to not be receiving the treatment I need. I am concerned that my body might just really not like the Taxol, and I may not be able to continue chemo if my white blood cell count doesn’t go up soon.
There was another lab result that is an indicator that my body is preparing to make more white blood cells soon, and that number was very low too, so I don’t know if it will be any better next week when I go in or not.
Dr. “B” feels like my bone marrow is still very low from the first type of chemo I was receiving when I got so sick. Then when I started my first treatment of Taxol two weeks ago, it made my body react badly because it remembers what the other chemo did to me. (Something like that!) We are just going to play this week by week and see what happens with my white blood cell count next week.
In the meantime, I do feel good, and have been able to run almost every day this past week. It has been beautiful weather, and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting out in it! I missed out on a lot of this summer, and have been trying to make up for it a little bit these past few weeks. I even hiked part way up the mountain that is behind our neighborhood. I would have gone higher, but I saw a snake and decided it was time to turn around!! =)
My niece, who has been living with us and helping me take care of my kids and house, is leaving today. I am glad I feel a lot of energy right now so that I can hopefully handle things without her. It has been a while since I have taken care of my kids all by myself! (Pretty sad, but I will have to get used to it again.)
My oldest, Alec, will start school on Tuesday, and I found a preschool for Max and Lily which will begin two weeks later. They will go everyday from 9-12, and Macy will go into their toddler room for daycare during that time.
I would rather just have them home, but I don’t know how I will feel during the rest of treatment, and after chemo I still have radiation for 6 weeks, then a surgery, etc., etc., so I felt like we needed to have some time each day for me to rest, or get things done without the kids. And if I continue to feel well throughout all this, then who knows what I will do with 3 free hours each day!!