Updates! California-Cancer-Chemo...

Even though I received a “talking to” back in September about the infrequent N&B blogs over past year, I still went ahead and let three months pass since the last blog (I say ‘I’ vs ‘we’ because it was my turn to write next).  I’m not going to be hard on myself and I’ve already given myself a pass for the delay. ;-)

For this blog, I figured I’d provide an update of my breast cancer journey since the diagnosis on 10/1/13.  (Brandy wrote about it in the October blog). Hmm, weird, I’m almost unsure where to start—I could write pages upon pages but I’ll provide a shortened summary for now.

After the diagnosis, I met with a team of several doctors to determine my treatment plan. Due to the size of the tumors and spreading of one, they all felt it best I enter chemo first to shrink the masses, with surgery later. I had my first chemo treatment on 10/28, starting with a combination of two drugs (A/C for short). There were many side effects to look out for, and four that affected me most were fatigue, nausea, blackened fingernails and of course, hair loss. My hair started shedding 11 days after the treatment; I was counting. My scalp also burned continuously—like that feeling when a relaxer has been left on too long. Imagine that sensation all day; not cool. It became unbearable so me, Brandy and my daughter Jasmine cut it low a few days later (instant relief!). Shortly after, the remaining hair started to look patchy from continued loss so we finally took it all the way down to bald where it remains today. Surprisingly, I wasn’t that shocked when I saw myself bald for the first time. Well, I take that back; I was shocked that my head wasn’t as big as I thought it was. ;-)  I condition my scalp daily in the shower to keep it healthy. J

I had four treatments of A/C, with the recovery time taking longer with each one. By the time I had my last on Christmas Eve, I was miserable. The upbeat, “I got this”, “oh happy day” feelings I tried to maintain were dissipating and I found myself getting more and more anxious for this entire experience to be over. Tears began to flow without warning (they still do), but for the most part, my days are positive.

I’ve moved on to weekly treatments of the third and last drug (Taxol). Three treatments in (out of twelve) and so far, it’s way less taxing on my body. No nausea, hallelujah. I’m not sleeping several days in a row after treatment as with the A/C, but instead I’m up the next morning and able to do my thing. Fatigue remains—if I run up and down the stairs once, it feels more like I ran up and down ten times.

Right now the most important issue for me is maintaining a healthy white blood cell count (WBC) so I can wrap this chemo up. I’ve missed a few treatments because my WBC was too low and chemo cannot be administered with a low count. To help maintain a good count, I’ve been prescribed shots of either Neupogen or Neulasta to boost WBC numbers. My dear Brandy, the BEST caregiver ever, injects the shots for me, usually in my stomach or thighs. Side effect of the shots is bone pain; ouch, it’s rather uncomfy.

The journey continues…we’re not yet at the halfway mark. When we moved to Cali last June, we certainly had no idea this would be part of our future. With so much change and uncertainty in such a short time, this hasn’t been the easiest transition. We’re doing our best at embracing this entire journey as it unfolds, and looking forward to what the future holds, praying and believing it’ll be on a positive upswing! We are SO GRATEFUL for the many, many prayers we’ve received—it truly helps to know your thoughts are with us.  We feel so loved! Thank you.

Until next time… J

Nikki Rashan ©January 2014

 

First haircut in November

January 2014