I'm sure I could take allergy medicine, but I hate to tax my liver with more drugs right now. The symptoms are annoying but I can deal with it. I hadn't thought of that clothespin solution! Not sure how that will work with my glasses but it's worth a try to keep mystery ingredients out of the recipe.
There is so much info online about neuropathy and kidney disease that I'm surprised your doctors aren't more aware. I believe some neuropathy patients are put on drugs like gabapentin for nerve damage; I remember taking that when I had shingles. Are you having any nerve pain, tingling, numbness, etc.?
I was just grumbling to Bobby about not being able to pick up a small maul (for gardening) when we were at Harbor Freight yesterday. I can’t find my little maul that I usually use for putting in the bamboo stakes, and I am sure that it is just hiding somewhere; but since we were at Harbor Freight, I thought I would just get another one. Even their smallest one was just too heavy for me to use. I have also noticed that most of the gardening tools (shovels, etc) have gotten heavier than they were before, and even the hose is harder to drag around. Like you, @Beth Gallagher , I have always been able to do pretty much whatever needed to be done around the house and yard, but I am noticing that I can’t anymore.
@Beth Gallagher "Are you having any nerve pain, tingling, numbness, etc.?" Yep, tons of it, constantly. Surfaces of my hands are numb and have little feeling, easy to burn contacting hot objects, and any contact with a sharp edge causes pain. Other day, corner of bottom of plastic toothpaste tube cut into my palm, still hurts. I haven't mentioned the neck cervical arthritis implicated: X-Rays confirm it, probable pressure on nerves exiting spine which lead down to the hands. Dr. suggested steroid shots in the neck, I declined. I, too, am reluctant to further tax my liver with additional drugs. Frank
I'm sorry to hear this, Frank. Nerve pain is particularly bothersome and difficult to treat, and I have read that most treatment doesn't help much. I have degenerating disks in my cervical spine at C6-C7 but no treatment has been proposed. I particularly hate the radiating pain from my spine and across my shoulder. The pain follows the nerve path and is that "burning" sensation.
Here's the story of my life. I have lost my leg hair, arm hair, nose hair, most of my eyebrows and head hair... but there's a single CHIN HAIR that persists. Apparently that thing is stronger than chemo.
I'm getting anxiety over the scan I will have on Tuesday. Ugh. I assume they are checking the effectiveness of chemo thus far. Keep your fingers crossed for me!! Oh, and next week I meet with the surgeon. (She's still young. ) I have been carefully avoiding thinking about that but it will be my reality soon enough.
Sheesh. All that hand-wringing for nothing. My scan is getting rescheduled because my oncologist wanted it when I'm done with Taxol. They neglected to reschedule it after I missed the chemo due to the "acute care" visit, so I'll have to wait till they reschedule the scan and then resume the anxiety attack.
Taxol #11 is in the record books; just one more to go. Got delayed this morning due to a vial of blood being "misplaced" in the lab; they shut the entire lab down until the vial was found so we patients were piling up in the waiting room.
That's kinda interesting and weird, all at the same time. So do you get a break after Taxol #12, or is it right on to AC (bi-weekly if I recall)?
I was surprised that the lab tech told me. He said they had to search every inch of the labs (and it is a BIG place); the vial had rolled between 2 boxes and was hidden from view. No break after #12; the following week I'll get AC and I believe it will be every 3 weeks unless the doctor changes the frequency. :dread: The good news is; there's only 4 doses of AC and that is a lifetime maximum... I can never have that stuff again.
Gee, the things you learn that you wish you never had. Let's hope you tolerate it as well as you have the Taxol. *sigh*
I'm hoping that it won't be as bad as I imagine, but the stories I have read give me nightmares. Actually, the "bad actor" is only 1/2 of the AC, the doxorubicin hydrochloride (Adriamycin) is called the Red Devil. This is why I had to have a baseline echocardiogram... Myocardial damage, including acute left ventricular failure, can occur with doxorubicin hydrochloride; the risk of cardiomyopathy is proportional to cumulative exposure with incidence rates from 1- 20% for cumulative doses ranging from 300 mg/m2 to 500 mg/m2 when doxorubicin hydrochloride is administered every 3 weeks; the risk of cardiomyopathy is further increased with concomitant cardiotoxic therapy; assess left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) before and regularly during and after treatment with doxorubicin hydrochloride. Delayed cardiotoxicity may occur in patients with prior mediastinal irradiation, in those on concurrent cyclophosphamide therapy, or in those with preexisting heart disease. Toxicity may also occur at a lower cumulative dose in patients. Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) is one of the most powerful chemotherapy drugs ever invented. It can kill cancer cells at every point in their life cycle, and it's used to treat a wide variety of cancers. Unfortunately, the drug can also damage heart cells, so a patient can't take it indefinitely. https://reference.medscape.com/drug/doxorubicin-342120
This was entertaining. Apparently sometimes the chemo port in the patient's chest can get a clot or otherwise stopped up. If the nurse plugs the needle into the port and doesn't get "blood return", they will inject heparin and saline in an attempt to clear the problem. If that doesn't work, they ask the patient to stand up, bend at the waist and fling their arms around and do other gyrations. Today a lady was flinging her arms and her wig fell off. Since the place was filled with cancer patients everyone had a good laugh and she was a good sport.