Hey Look It's Another Doctor's Vist

Had another visit with Dr. B today and met his nurse S, who as everyone else so far, was very nice and professional. I have no doubt that this is a good team. He says the port looks good even though it feels a bit sore still and the scar is a bit raw looking. I did find out that the treatment regiment will be a bit different than we thought. It will last eight sessions not six and consist of two different protocols. There will be four treatments of an A/C combination and four treatments of taxotere. I will be getting an EKG next week to check my heart as the Adriamycin Cytoxan can be quite toxic. Oh goodie. What is that saying about the cure being worse than the disease?

So what to expect? Fatigue, hair loss (yes all the hair), vulnerability to infection 7 to 14 days after chemo, neutropenia, tinging in the fingers and toes. And then there's the possible constipation or diarrhea, the nails that may fall off, the possibility of high fever at which point we need to go to the emergency room, and don't forget the hot flashes. Those are awesome at 40. Oh and avoid raw vegetables at restaurants since you don't know how well they've been washed, avoid sick people and crowds, and drink plenty of water to flush the system and keep your skin from drying out too much. There's also the steroids, the anti-nausea meds prior treatment, the anti-nausea meds during treatment yada yada yada. Oh so many things to keep straight.

Dr. B is changing his schedule and will not be working at that location on Thursdays any more, so we move the Chemo treatments to Monday as I will be seeing him before I actually get chemo treatment. It's better than having two separate appointments but yet another change. So many appointments it's overwhelming and a bit confusing, glad mom and dad are here to help me keep notes. We also went to the treatment room to see where I would be getting my chemo the next day and met my oncology nurse, S. She put me at ease with her personality, but I can't really say I'm looking forward to seeing her again.