Chemo #5

Not to be confused with Love Potion #9 ...

Today was chemo day -- chemo treatment #5. That means after today I will have only one more treatment to go! Today my doc said that the end of chemotherapy treatment does not signify the end of side effects ... those tend to go on for several months after the treatments are over. But, it does signify the end of treatments!

For anyone reading this who wants to know more about the chemotherapy regimen I've been undergoing, here's the skinny: In some reading I've done, the treatment plan that a person undergoes is called a recipe. Believe me, this isn't like any recipe most of us are familiar with ... or want to be. My chemo "recipe" is TAC -- Taxotere, Adriamycin and Cytoxan. Sounds good eh? The side effects are not like any hangover I've ever had and too numerous to list here. Take a look at www.breastcancer.org/treatment/ if you really want more info. Keep in mind that my treatment is taking place at VCU's Massey Cancer Center and that my treatment plan was drawn up for me by my doctor ... who rocks! And this particular treatment plan or recipe that I'm following is relatively new in the United States. How European of me!

Tomorrow, I'll go back to the Massey Cancer Center and get a shot of Neulasta, a drug that helps to increase my white blood cell count. That helps my immune system. Unfortunately it really doesn't help to reduce any of those other lovely side effects. But hey, it works to help keep me from getting a really bad cold. Okay, so does avoiding sick people! HA!

So now what I really want to know ... anybody got the recipe for Love Potion #9 cuz after all this chemo and its side effects are over I think I may need some of that!