The Taxol Experience

No, I'm not frozen waving "hello" to you.
This is treatment #5, baby!

Getting Taxol treatments is similar to the AC treatments in some ways:

• I apply a Lidocaine blob to my port site prior to my treatment to numb the port area.
• A "sucker fish" needle is stuck into my port. 
• The port is flushed and several vials of blood are taken to make sure I can go ahead with another treatment and also check for other important markers.
• I'm given anti-nausea medication in addition to the rest of my meds via the port IV.

The ways in which Taxol differs from the previous four AC treatments is:

• I'm given a decent amount of Benadryl via port IV (not sure how much, but I want to find out) to mitigate any allergic reaction to Taxol.
• The Benadryl makes me a sleepy person! It was all I could do to go down my list of questions during the office visit with my oncologist. I hope to try to see her before the full effect of the Benadryl is upon me next time - I was loopy and thankful that mom took notes. All I wanted to do was hand off my list of questions and slink down onto the exam to take a nap.
• The entire treatment time is ~5 hours.
• I eat and drink a bit between naps and wake up to various other women receiving their treatments sitting in recliners across from me. Kinda weird when you see one person, close your eyes, open them again, and poof!--there's a different person sitting in front of you. What happened?
• Taxol should be easier on my system (less anti-nausea meds since it's "easier" and therefore should give me less constipation problems). This doesn't seem like a big deal until it's a problem. Then this is a VERY BIG DEAL. It's also not a double whammy of meds, which is also a nice thing for Laura-the-chemo-patient.

The day after my first Taxol treatment, I felt like a star! I drove to my appointment that morning for my Neulasta shot (to get my WBC count up). Gramma Birch came back with me to see it happen; she's a sport! Pretty uneventful, though...the shot takes <1 minute and then they Band-Aid me up and send me packing. I ran an errand afterwards with my mom and Gramma, then came home to eat. After eating, I could tell I was getting tired. So once I had digested lunch, I settled down for a nap and slept a couple of hours. The rest of the evening I felt fine.

Then it was Thursday. Ugh! Thursdays are tough. I forget how cumbersome it is to be in pain all day: bone pain set in. What's bone pain? That's what I wanted to know when the oncologist's nurses were telling me about side effects of the Neulasta shot. Their answer: "Oh, you'll know when you're having bone pain." Indeed. There is nothing quite like it and if you don't know what it is yet - quit wondering when you'll experience it! Nearly all touching is off limits: hugs, pats on the back, laying down, sitting back, etc. Seems like each time I get one of these shots the bone pain goes a little further. By that, I mean into more long, bone marrow producing bones. This time I'm also experiencing some joint pain, which is a first. 

Bone pain + joint pain = recliner time for Laura.

Today the bone pain is beginning to ease; the joint aches are not. Still, I'm feeling better than yesterday which is a positive in my books. These few days after treatment are predictably a low time for me. However, I'm happy to report that it's still better than AC treatment #4! That still wins out as being the ultimate crappy treatment thus far.