Breast Cancer Journal - Entry 14
My chemo was canceled this week. My oncologist doesn't want to see any edema (swelling in my extremities) at all, and no problems breathing before she lets me do another treatment. She said she doesn't want to take unnecessary chances of permanent heart damage since I still have thirteen treatments to go.
Background: My arms and legs swelled up a couple of weeks ago, and I felt like my heart was beating really fast. I also felt slightly out of breath, even while I was sitting still. We called the advice nurse, and I rested for a weekend. The swelling went down.
A MUGA scan and ultrasound were ordered to see the status of my heart. It was determined that I have decreased heart function due to the Herceptin, but my rhythms are steady. We are hoping the damage is not permanent, but my gut feeling regarding this development is not a good one. I don't think I could make it backpacking at this point, even if we could find someone to take Aidan for a couple of days and went super slow. This really bums me out.
On a more positive note, my hair is growing back quickly. Let me tell you, I look much better with eyebrows! I've also regained some feeling in my fingers and feet. I'm itchy all over though, to the point of it keeping me awake all night. I fall asleep around 3:30-4:00am, which of course, leaves me very tired during the day. I've gone through all sorts of creams and lotions, including prescription ones (even oral Benadryl), and only Gold Bond seems to work decently during the day. For some reason though, night itchies are impervious to any and all topical treatments so I have to use ice packs on my forearms and the back of my neck.
Chuga-chug-chug...
Background: My arms and legs swelled up a couple of weeks ago, and I felt like my heart was beating really fast. I also felt slightly out of breath, even while I was sitting still. We called the advice nurse, and I rested for a weekend. The swelling went down.
A MUGA scan and ultrasound were ordered to see the status of my heart. It was determined that I have decreased heart function due to the Herceptin, but my rhythms are steady. We are hoping the damage is not permanent, but my gut feeling regarding this development is not a good one. I don't think I could make it backpacking at this point, even if we could find someone to take Aidan for a couple of days and went super slow. This really bums me out.
On a more positive note, my hair is growing back quickly. Let me tell you, I look much better with eyebrows! I've also regained some feeling in my fingers and feet. I'm itchy all over though, to the point of it keeping me awake all night. I fall asleep around 3:30-4:00am, which of course, leaves me very tired during the day. I've gone through all sorts of creams and lotions, including prescription ones (even oral Benadryl), and only Gold Bond seems to work decently during the day. For some reason though, night itchies are impervious to any and all topical treatments so I have to use ice packs on my forearms and the back of my neck.
Chuga-chug-chug...
2 comments:
Hang in there Kathy.
Love ya ~ pam
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