No more hair!!

As I had mentioned in my previous post, my hair started to falling on the 15th day following my first chemo treatment.  As the days went on, more and more hair came out and it was EVERYWHERE.  In my bed, sink, shower, all over the floor...... and it seemed never ending.  When I tried flat ironing my hair, it just came out with each pinch of the iron, when I washed my hair, my hands were coated in strands of hair...  It became so annoying that I was ready to get my head shaved.  I called the salon the following Tuesday after the hair started to fall, unfortunately, the lady who usually shaves heads for the cancer patients was on vacation.. so I had to deal with the hair for another week.. oooh goodness.  While it was bad timing for me, I also think it helped to have to deal with the falling hair for another week so I was completely prepared to get it shaved.  So here goes....

Almost completely gone!!

My wig!

We went to the salon after Steve's classes finished this Tuesday, April 27th.  The lady who shaved my head was soo kind, and definitely knew how I was feeling.. she had breast cancer 3 times, lost her hair 2 times during her treatments, and has been in remission for 10 years.  Such an amazingly strong person.   Knowing that she has been in the same shoes as me helped my attitude so much.  She started shaving from the back of my neck, forward.  As soon as she started to shave my head, the temperature change was amazing.. burrr.  Before I knew it, I was bald!  We then fit my wig (which is sooo much nicer than my real hair will ever be! hah) and I was on my way!  We bought some little head caps so my head stays warm while sleeping and relaxing at home.  It was surprisingly a great feeling to get my head shaved and to be able to have control over one of the many chemo side effects.  Very liberating. :)  PS. I don't have any awkward lumps, bumps, or birthmarks on my head-- just incase you were curious! hah

The lady who cut my hair is also a teacher for The American Cancer Society and National Cosmetology Association's Look Good Feel Better program.  It's a few hour seminar where woman cancer patients have opportunities to learn how to style wigs, style scarves, apply make-up, deal with eyebrow and eyelash loss and other cosmetic side effects of chemotherapy.  The women who attend are given a bag with approximately $200 worth of cosmetics and get to meet other patients who are going through similar situations.  I searched for local sessions and there is one May 17th at the Hillman that I think I'm going to try to attend.  It seems like a really great opportunity for me.. hopefully I can make it!

THE SKY IS FALLING

THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING....
                                         no no silly.  That's MY HAIR!

The start of the hair loss came like clockwork.. 15 days after my first treatment, as my nurse told me.  This past Thursday night when I showered, I noticed a bit more hair than the usual few strands in my hands when I normally shampoo... I knew it was the beginning of the story of the hairless Teresa.  Progressively since then, my hair has been falling out more and more each day.  It started as a few strands falling on my shoulders after combing, or a few pieces in my fingers when I put my fingers through my hair.....but this morning there was plenty on my pillow and more falling on my shoulders each time I move my head too quickly.  Sooo.. I'm sure I'll be taking a trip to the Hillman for dun dun dunnnnnn.. the big shaving of my head!! Am I nervous? Heck yes I am.  But I'm trying to keep positive-- story of my life.  :)

Other side effects of chemo from the 2nd treatment have been, for the most part, the same as the 1st.  Nausea the first 2 days after treatment, constipation, tiredness like nobody's business, and dry mouth.  A new side effect that I experienced this treatment was sore mouth.  This happened Saturday and is a known side effect for each of the drugs that I'm getting.  Thank goodness when I woke up Sunday it was gone and hopefully it won't come back!! I didn't want to eat anything when I experienced this so I'm super happy it went away.

Thanks for all of the continual support!! I consider myself lucky to have each and every one of you in my super extensive support system ♥

home from chemotx 2

Everything today went well.  I had my appointment for my 2nd chemo today at 8:30am and we were finished around 12:30pm.  Before each chemotherapy, a blood workup is done to make sure my levels aren't dropping too low.  While my blood levels have definitely dropped, most have stayed within the lower limits of normal and no action has to be taken.  Our only concern is that the absolute neutrophil count is dropping below the normal range (2.24-7.68 X10E+9/L).  Before chemo, my absolute neutrophil count was 10.7.  One week after my 1st treatment my count was 3.2, and today, before my 2nd treatment, my count dropped to 1.2.  While this level is below the normal range, the nurse explained that a blood cell booster wouldn't be necessary until the level plummets to 0.5.  Hopefully this won't happen, but we'll keep monitoring the levels before each treatment to determine if I'll need a shot 24h after chemo.  The absolute neutrophil count is an indicator of how susceptible I am of getting sick.  If the levels do drop below 0.5, in addition to the shot, I'll have to be even more careful going to public places and wear a mask to protect myself from germs.
Since I've been home, I took one Zofran for nausea-- no more compazine for me!! (those are out of my apartment completely!) I feel tired and nauseous, but overall I'm doing just fine.  Time for a must-needed nap!! :)

Live Coverage from the Hillman!!

This is Teresa reporting live from the Hillman Cancer Center. haha  I'm here for my 2nd treatment today!! When I got my port accessed today, the nurse took my steri strips off of my incisions from my port placement surgery.  The steri strips are used instead of sutures to close the incision and allow healing.  It's been over three weeks since my port placement and they were well overdue to be taken off... now I'll have to apply some Mederma so I don't scar much and I'll be as good as new.
Treatment 2 is going well thus far.. I already got my premeds, "A", "B", and "V"... and right now I'm set up to a 90 minute bag of the "D".  That's the news for now... I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful sunny day!!


                                     My cocktail of drugs......

Up close pic of "Whitney Port"...

It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh!!!!!  I'm looking forward to watching the first Penguins playoff game tonight between naps!!! wooo go Pens!

Huber and Whitney are becoming good friends..

On Wednesday, I got my one week post-chemo blood work done.  Of course this was via my AMAZING port.. so easy.  Just one little pinch to my chest with a Huber needle to access "Whitney", my port, and just like that my blood was drawn.  I was instructed to stay around for the results incase my blood levels dropped so low that I needed some blood cell boosters, but all was good.  I was told at my first chemo that my levels would drop to their lowest within 7-10 days of the first chemotherapy.. aka my nadir (pharmacy term that I thought I'd never apply to my life!! hah).  Of course, it is expected that the chemo will lower my blood levels, the question is how low will they drop... Luckily for me, my blood levels were above the normal ranges before I started chemo... so my results post-chemo were substantially lower than pre-chemo, but I was still within the lower end of the normal ranges.  Great news!!  :)

After Steve and I left the Hillman I was reallly in the mood for McDonald's!!  I had a cheeseburger (only ketchup and extra pickle, of course), chicken nuggets, and french fries--- needless to say, I have my appetite back!! wooooo

♥ HAVE COURAGE ♥

Basically, my friends are the best friends in the world and they decided they would make a LiveStrong-style bracelet personalized for my situation to fundraise for The Mario Lemieux Foundation!! --Mario had the Hodge! Sooo.. the bracelets are purple (the color for Hodgkin's Lymphoma) and they read ♥HAVE COURAGE♥ (the phrase that is inside of my Kate Spade bracelet that Steve got me when I was first diagnosed).  We got the bracelets yesterday and they are selling like hotcakes!!-- Thanks for everyone's support, I love seeing the purple on everyone's wrists and knowing that all of the donations received are going to the amazing cause to find a cure for the Hodge and other cancers in the Pittsburgh area!! 

Planning ahead...

Upon my pre-chemotx appointment, Dr. Marks and my nurse discussed the association between my treatment (ABVD chemotx) and alopecia--aka HAIR LOSS.  They said that in approximately 15 days after my first treatment that my hair will begin to fall out.  They mentioned that at first I would notice hair on my pillow when I wake up in the morning, then it would rapidly begin to fall out in "clumps".  According to the 15-day prediction, my hair is expected to fall out around the beginning of my next scheduled treatment, April 14th.

It's important for this kind of change that you plan and prepare!!  It's crazy that for some reason I decided to chop all of my hair off in fall 2009.  It was like for some reason I needed to prepare with short hair for what was to come.  Other steps to prepare includes finding a wig, buying cute scarves that will compliment every outfit, and accepting that there's nothing that I can do and that my hair WILL fall out.  It's amazing that the Hillman Cancer Center truly has EVERYTHING that you can dream for as a cancer patient, including a wig and hair salon.  The hair salon located in the Hillman is Hair Enhancements of Pittsburgh.  (www.hairenhancements.net)  On Tuesday, Steve went with me to pick a wig.  Since my hair is currently short and my treatments are during the hot summer months, I wanted a short wig.  I tried on many different styles and myself, Steve, and the hair restoration specialist decided upon a wig that is VERY similar to my current hairstyle.  Steve was an amazing help in telling me what looked good and what didn't... we made it a fun day!  The wig that they had in the shop was a few shades too dark so we ordered a wig in my preferred natural color that will be ready for me in a few days.  The wigs are so nice and feel like my actual hair when on my head.  You can style the wigs with hairspray or wax and brush and comb them as if it's your actual hair.  The salon provides shampoo and conditioner for the wig.  The only instructions is that absolutely NO HEAT be applied to the wig.  No blow dryers, flat irons, or even wearing the wig when opening ovens.

The salon also offers head shaving for patients.  They recommend that as soon as the fallen hair is seen on my pillow that I get my head shaved so the traumatic "clumping" stage is avoided.  I am trying to keep positive through all of this.  When I get out of the shower every morning I tell myself how nice it's going to be when I don't have to spend time blow-drying and styling my hair!! It'll take a good half-hour off of my morning routine!  I'll keep everyone posted on when the hair starts to fall.. I'm sure it'll be any day now.

GOODBYE, NIGHTSWEATS!!

Like I said in an earlier post, my stage is 2b.  The "b" is representative of the presence of symptoms.. so you're an "a" if you have no symptoms and a "b" if you have symptoms.  In my case, the "b" is part of my staging because I have experienced night sweats, cough, ~20 lbs weight loss, itchiness, and tiredness.  While each of these symptoms are non-specific and could be due to many other things, the combination is the classic symptoms of lymphoma.
Upon visiting with Dr. Marks in my appointment the day of my first chemotx, he mentioned that my symptom of night sweats would go away in about 1 week. It's amazing how quickly the chemotx drugs work that I would see results that immediately!  Well sure enough, the night sweats are gone!!!!!!! I have been experiencing drenching night sweats since around Thanksgiving-time.  Every morning when I woke up, it was like a bucket of water was dumped on me and my bed in the middle of the night.  I may have been naive, but I just associated the night sweats with the fact that cold temperatures were approaching quickly so I had my heat blasting in my apartment and that I looove blankets and always slept with several every night.  Dr. Marks mentioned that it would be a week until they symptoms were gone and it only took 2 nights!!! The third night the sweats were gone!!! It was crazy how used to it I've become and I just accepted the sweats.  Now without the sweats I've been sleeping sooo much better-- it's amazing.  Hopefully all of this is a sign that my body is responding well to the chemotx and that the 8.6 cm mass in my chest is growing smaller and smaller each day!!!

BREAKING NEWS: I'm allergic to Compazine!!

BREAKING NEWS:  I'm allergic to Compazine!!... and all other Phenothiazines, for that matter.  When I got up Friday morning I just couldn't relax.. it was like my muscles were all very stiff.  Steve suggested that I try to take a bath and that didn't help... It got to the point where I couldn't lay straight without my arms being folded up towards my face with my neck turned to the side, and a swollen tongue that started to obstruct my breathing.  Turns out I was experiencing a adverse effect from the compazine that I took for nausea.......dystonia.  It's a muscular reaction to a drug that is taken that causes tightening or stiffening of the muscules of the eyes, tongue, jaw, neck, back, arms, and legs.  The severity of the spasm can bring on alot of anxiety.  Luckily for me, an antidote is present-- benadryl-- my goodness, a magical drug!! Steve took me to the ER at Mercy Hospital where they placed an IV with benadryl and almost instantly the tense clenching muscle sensation was gone.  THANK GOODNESSSSS!!!  So I caused a little scare and gave my parents an excuse to come spend the afternoon with me in Pittsburgh.  But thanks Steve for getting me to the ER and saving my life  :)

One down, Eleven to go!!-- First Chemotx

As soon as I got to the Hillman Cancer Center, I checked in and was told my port line would be placed.  Can I please just say whoever it was who invented ports needs to win a huge prize.  The port line placement was SOOO easy!!! Just one little poke and I was happy as pie.  I didn't even know blood was taken when the line was placed, mom had to tell Dr. Marks when he asked later..  haha good thing she was there to see.....

After the port line was placed, I went to see Dr. Marks.  Mom, Dad, and Steve were with me to hear the reaaaally great news: my stage is 2b and my bone marrow biopsy is negative!! He did say that the mass between my lungs is 8.6 centimeters, so we'll have to see how well I respond to chemo and I may need radiation once the chemo is all over.

Next I went to the chemotherapy center... we were originally placed in a single private room, but my nurse, Donna, suggested that we move to a semi-private room next to her nursing station so she could keep an eye on me.  That was fine with me.. if I needed anything I could just shout and she'd hear me.  First Donna spoke with us about all the drugs, what to expect, and the potential side effects.  She gave me a binder where all of my labs will be kept, with info on what to eat for various side effects, and pamphlets on how to deal with cancer.  Next I was given my premeds.  First Tylenol, by mouth, then a steroid, benadryl, and anti-nausea meds through my port.  The benadryl made me sleeeepy.  After the premed IV bags were emptied, we started a saline drip and we were ready to start the first chemotherapy drug-- Adriamycin.  This drug looks bright red like fruit punch.  The Adriamycin was slowly pushed through my port line where it was diluted through the saline drip.  Second was the Vinblastine push which was slowly diluted as well.  Next I had to get a shot in the arm of Bleomycin.  This was to make sure I didn't have a reaction.  I had to wait a half hour until I was given the remaining Bleomycin via an IV bag.  Finally, I had a 90 minute drip Dacarbazine.  And I was donnneeee.


It was a long day, but not a bad day.  We were there from 830-230... a loooong day.  hah Thanks a ton to my mom, dad, and Steve for making the day an easy one!! Love you all  :)   also, thanks to all the many friend text messages and calls throughout the day.. I have the best support group surrounding me!!

I was sent home with scripts for Zofran and Compazine.  I took one of each yesterday and two compazine so far today.. The nausea isn't terrible.. just feels like a flip-floppy belly.  And other that that I'm a bit tired.  So far so good.  :)