8 of 12 Taxol Treatments: Let the Countdown Begin

Today was another easy/good day at Chemo.  I was in and out in 3 hours total.  Nothing major to report.  I’m now in the countdown window… 4 left! The final two will be with Aubrey who is joining me from Copenhagen.  The hat will be resurrected and I’m practicing my bell skills to ring the Milestone bell at Chemo – should I ring fast, slow, one ring, two?  I plan to bring celebration treats too; maybe use the recipe for ginger cookies from Cecille.  Now I’ll break it down for you – Pettoni Style:

• 8:20 – Arrival
• 8:40 – Port tapped
  • Tapping – Numbing cream was less successful this round.  I felt a small prick.  I have two theories based on nothing – one is that I didn’t have it on long enough, though it was on for an hour.  The second is that I have a small scab from last week and maybe they hit it and the numbing cream is less effective at that spot.  Oh well – either way it doesn’t hurt that much.
  • Weight –  I was down from last week, but still up.  Grrr.
• 8:50 – Met with PA
  • Nails – I mentioned my big toes are still bruised and we’ll call them (warning graphic) loose in some places.  She said it’s normal and to soak them in vinegar to be sure you don’t get infections under the toe nails (I’ll experiment with that tonight).  Weird.  Some interesting growth stats:
    • Toe nails take 1.5 years to grow back normally (or as normal as they will get) – https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/nail-changes-during-treatment-taxanes?amp
    • Finger nails take 6 months – https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/nail-changes-during-treatment-taxanes?amp
    • Hair takes 12 months (to have 6 inches to comb) – 2 years for 12 inches. I’m thinking it’ll be 1.5 years until I rock a short blond do and retire the wigs. Though I did rock a brown bob this weekend at the Taylor Swift Concert… https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319446.php

• • • Eyebrows take 6 weeks to 6 months – https://www.livestrong.com/article/109520-eyebrow-growth-rate/ 
    • Eye lashes take 6-8 months but mine are coming in already and I just got some more babe lash to help. My babe lash super long lashes lasted a while, the last 3 of them oddly hung on till last week,  they were very weird looking so I had to give them a trim sorry for not capturing the picture.  I read one article that said don’t use mascara and don’t do heavy black eyes to cover up the loss, I have to challenge that – I rock it anyway! http://cancerhaircare.com/page/brows-and-lashes/71
  • Chest tightness – I mentioned when I stand up or take deep breaths occasionally while exercising (or my version of it) I have some tightness in my chest.  Similar but nothing compared to the chest pain I had a few weeks ago. PA said if it worsens let them know and we’ll do a CT.
• 9:10 – Down to infusion
  • Took a nap today.  Benadryl knocked me out
• 11:00 – Done with Chemo
• 11:30 – Done with Acupuncture!

Thanks to Shawn for joining me and helping change my ice.

Overall things are going well – just counting down and hoping not to get sick.  I shared a spoon quickly with my toddler who is known to carry germs.  Hoping I don’t catch anything and ruin my upcoming travel 🙁 I even saw honey is a natural antibiotic so I treated myself to a honey stick.

And in other good news kind of related.  You may recall I broke my favorite Kate Spade prescription glasses.  I tried to get them repaired and soldered, but they broke again, so sadly I’ve been wearing my old glasses which don’t fit right with my wig and don’t flatter my face when I’m wig less.  So I sent them off to the warranty company with no real hope of them replacing the frames.  But I sent a letter explaining my story and they called today and are replacing them!   Here’s a shout out to the company from a hairless girls who needs those frames! http://www.safilo.com/