Side effects may include...

It's strange going from normal, day-to-day living to treatment. A lot of mental shifting in just a few weeks for this new, unwanted hobby.  A few things I am particularly thankful for that support this moment of life - I am able to work remotely for my job, the Cancer Center is a 10 minute drive from my house, and I have a dedicated and supportive partner.  If any one of those things weren't true, this would be more challenging to navigate.

There is certainly an up and down to it all.  I let myself feel the feels and do my best to not get stuck in it. Finding acceptance is more helpful rather than being at odds with the reality of it all, wishing for something that is not.

I have been waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop in terms of side effects from chemo.  In the waiting, nearly convinced myself that it would all just pass me by and I would experience just mild annoyance here and there - LOL. I guess the optimist in me will never really die. 

For the better part of the weekend food tasted like nothing. It’s an absolute trip eating a piece of pizza and not being able to taste any part of it. Chemo attacks rapidly dividing cells (like cancer) but does not discriminate between good and bad dividing cells. So, things like taste buds, hair, blood cells, bone marrow, gut biome, etc. are also impacted. My taste seems to be getting better so I am hoping this is something that only peaks 5-7 days after an infusion session.

I also developed a mild chemo rash - like sudden deep acne on my head, face, and chest. Not a huge deal knowing it’s temporary but definitely a... "oh yeah ok, I'm on chemotherapy" moment.

Currently taking bets on how long it will take for me to shave my head.  My guess, 3 weeks??  I don't feel compelled to preemptively shave my head - I'll make that leap once my hair starts significantly shedding. I am also not sure if I will really be into wigs or scarves so I have been thinking of ways to embrace my bald era with hats, cute dangley earrings, and finally learning how to put on fake eyelashes. With everything lost there is something gained ;)

Last but not least, got that bloodwork done this week and my white blood cell (WBC) counts have dipped below the safe range.  To put it in perspective, my neutrophils (white blood cells) need to be at least 1.5 to even receive chemotherapy. Currently, my neutrophils are at a 0.6 which means my body isn't really equipped to fight off an infection if I were to encounter one. As a precaution I am to follow neutropenic precautions including avoiding crowds, wearing a mask, and eat fully cooked foods - essentially quarantine status until my white blood cell counts rebound. This really took me off guard because I couldn't attend yoga or teach my barre class without taking a risk. That was a big bummer for me yesterday but based on Google MD, I think this dip in wbc peaks 7-12 days after treatment so I will try to take that into account while planning life going forward.

Next infusion is 11-MAR.

More after that,

V<3