Greetings everyone and I hope everyone had a great Easter. Spring is springing and things are moving along with my treatment plan as well. I went to see the Chemotherapy oncologist to get started on that plan last week. It was a little of an insight as to what treatment looks like as the Dr is located in the treatment center area. Surprisingly they sell wigs, hats and the like right there (go figure). So as usual they got me in right on time and started to go over a brief history of my case. I had mom on the phone so she could ask any questions and be informed as to what was going on.
Dr:
Ok.. 54 yr old female: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stage 3 uterine cancer.
Me:
WHAT!?!? Stage 3? I thought it was stage 2
Dr: Yeah.. about that.. (not really)
So, because the cancer was found in my lymph nodes its stage 3. Well this just about sent me back to day 1 panic, but I was able to hold it together. The Dr explained that they took 4 lymph nodes and 3 of them had cancer. 2 of the 3 were microscopic and the 3rd one had a small tumor. Ok well, what the hell ever. We got this.
On to chemo.
Will I lose my hair? Yes
Ok
Other side effects are not expected to be horrible. Most commonly is severe fatigue that usually starts day 2 or 3 (day 1 is chemo day) and goes for a day or two. Nasua is common but there are great meds for this now so it hopefully shouldn’t be an issue. There are a host of other “possible” side effects but those are the most common. So besides the stage 3 thing, it was as I expected. I will do 6 rounds of chemo starting (most likely) on April 28th. They will be once every 21 days and if everything is on schedule they should complete in September. I am scheduled to have the port put in on Friday and will have my head shaved prior to treatment. There have been many questions as to why I am shaving my head instead of waiting for it to fall out or “see” if it falls out. The answer is that it WILL fall out and it WILL fall out in clumps. On my pillow, when I brush it when I shower.. I would rather not add that to the other things I'm dealing with and just get it done to avoid that whole stress thing. Getting it shaved…. Stressful.. yes. But I believe it to be less stressful than the former and Demi Moore pulled it off, I can too! How do I know it will fall out, I know people that have been through chemo and not lost their hair? This is not a luck of the draw thing, it is primarily what “type” of chemo you receive. I will be getting a cocktail of Carboplatin and Paclitaxel. I have listed the side effects of both below for reference, but both do cause hair loss (medical term alopecia). The other concern is that I will get a blood test before each chemo and both also cause Anemia. I am already anemic, so this is a little of a concern, but I'm not stressing too much about that.
Moving on to the radiation debate. After researching the side effects of radiation this became the larger concern. Part of it is that it is 4 (give or take) weeks, Monday through Friday so there is not much of a break and it has a slew of side effects that are unbecoming of a lady. Good news.. It is targeted and it's not targeted at my head, so my hair should start to grow back at this point. I have been talking with a few other ladies that have had this treatment, so they are sharing their real-world experiences with both chemo and radiation. When I asked one of them why she decided to she brought the pathology report that she had into the conversation. I went back and read my pathology report more closely and I'm not even going to go there, except to say that if I had any questions before I don’t now. I also asked two larger support groups if they would do it and there were close to 100 responses and not 1 said not to do it. Overwhelmingly the answer was you have to trust your health care team and you have to take every measure you can to kill the beast. You dont want to be two years down the road with cancer back and wonder, what if I did rations. So, there you have it. This will take place after the chemo is complete and they do this because often times if they sandwich it, patients don’t come back and finish chemo.
I have talked to so many helpful people that are trying to help prepare me and as we know everyone is different. Some tolerate radiation better than chemo, and some visa versa. It is entirely possible that I will tolerate both well and have only minimal side effects.
As usual, thank you to my wonderful friends and family for continuing to support me in every way possible.
Below are the possible listed side effects of the chemo and radiation.
Radiation
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/endometrial-cancer/treating/radiation.html?fbclid=IwAR27EkGU33-i4Nb451DD0-Qm8fiDbv2MyMrdXdQ1p3HIik5cljnkwANQhQc
Chemo
Paclitaxel
Common side effects
· Anemia
· Thrombocytopenic disorder
· Leukopenia
· Neutropenic disorder
· Peripheral neuropathy
· Erythema
· Alopecia
· Arthralgia
· Myalgia
· Paresthesia
· Skin rash
· Dyspnea
· Nausea
· Vomiting
· Diarrhea
· Edema
· Bradycardia
· Hypotension
· Urticaria
· Abnormal hepatic function tests
Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including
· Signs of anemia
· Easy bruising/bleeding
· Fainting
· Confusion
· Pain/redness/swelling/weakness of the arms/legs
Carboplatin
Common brand names: Paraplatin
Common side effects
· Anemia
· Thrombocytopenic disorder
· Leukopenia
· Neutropenic disorder
· Alopecia
· General weakness
· Nausea
· Vomiting
· Injection site sequelae
· Bone marrow depression
· Infection
· Hemorrhage
· Peripheral neuropathy
· Pain
· Abdominal pain with cramps
· Hyponatremia
· Hypokalemia
· Hypocalcemia
· Hypomagnesemia
· CNS toxicity
Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including
· Numbness or tingling in the hands/feet
· Mouth sores
· Yellowing eyes/skin
· Dark urine
· Unusual tiredness
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