Chemotherapy Overview

I thought I'd blog today with an outline of how the entire chemotherapy process went for me in hopes that the information may prove helpful to someone else going through the same thing.  I want to start by saying that everyone is different and the experience will also be different for everyone based on the drugs given and the duration of the treatments.  My chemotherapy drugs were Taxotere and Cytoxan and I was given infusions every 21 days for a total of 4 rounds.  I will not list or talk about the specific prescriptions that I was given to treat the side effects of chemo as again it will be different for everyone.  So here goes...

#1 -

• I felt fine until day 3 when I began to feel very tired and had a strange metal taste in my mouth.
• Days 4-8 my energy was very low, I experienced bone pain, dry mouth, stomach cramps and headaches.
• Days 9-10 the pain level began to become more tolerable and my energy was a bit better but my muscles began to feel very fatigued.
• Day 11 I was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and was prescribed antibiotics.
• Days 12-15 headaches continued with an increase in fatigue and muscle aches.
• Days 16-21 my energy was better each day with less aches and pains.

#2 -

• I felt pretty good until day 3 when nausea, headaches, stomach cramps and low energy began.  This lasted and progressively got worse until day 13.
• Days 13-21 the symptoms progressively got better with energy increasing as each day passed with the exception of the muscle fatigue and some shortness of breath.
• During this chemo cycle I began to experience a lot of backache from too much lying and sitting as well as neuropathy in my fingers and toes.
• Hair loss - bald.

#3 -

• Day 1 lab work indicated that I was anemic (which explains the muscle fatigue and shortness of breath).  
• Day 4 the fatigue set in very hard - I literally had no energy. The neuropathy in fingers and toes became much worse. 
• Days 6-10 the bone pain was pretty bad along with headaches, mouth sores and extreme fatigue.  I began physical therapy for back pain.
• Days 11-21 the bone pain decreased, low energy remained along with large muscle fatigue.

#4 -

• Day 1 lab work indicated that the anemia had gotten significantly worse since #3.  The doctor put me on weekly injections to stimulate my red blood cell production.  I continued to have muscle fatigue, extremely low energy, nausea, stomach cramps, bone pain, headaches and back pain.  
• Day 4-6 I developed a high fever that we could not determine the cause of.  The doctor prescribed an antibiotic.
• This round brought a lot more insomnia and night sweats.  I began to feel more energy by day 14 and the muscle fatigue and energy levels have gotten better each day since.

Some overall symptoms that I experienced throughout the entire course of treatment were (and in some cases still are) insomnia, hot flashes and night sweats and being very emotional.  My appetite was only mildly disrupted when I had bouts of nausea but remained mostly intact.  I gained a total of 7 lbs. during treatments but have already lost 4 now that I am 3 weeks out from my last chemo.  The physical therapy has helped somewhat with the back pain and I am hopeful that as I get back into exercising and moving around more that it will get much better.  I began walking further distances and took a yoga class this week :)

Again, I post this as an overview for those curious about the process of chemo treatments.  I will post in the future as I progress and begin to move away from the side effects that still remain 3 weeks post treatments.  My next step in this journey will be the reconstruction which will take place in the next few weeks.