Infusion 8 of 16

This week I walked out of my house and completely forgot my cold therapy bag. I was so proud of how I packed it last night with my ice pack socks and gloves. I had to borrow ice use the oncology ice packs, but they cool off in 20-minutes, so it wasn't much help.

Oh well, I got 8 more weeks to get it right.

Also this week, I didn't have to take the Benadryl drip. What a difference it made. They put me on it four weeks ago when I started Paxitaxol (the chemo drug that I'm now on). People can have reactions with "taxol" so they always want you on Benadryl just in case, but it made me sleepy. I'd sleep through my treatment and when I got home I was lethargic for the rest of the day. Around 10pm when it was time for me to go to bed, I was wide awake. I'd stay awake all night and throughout the next day. Even though I specifically didn't allow myself to sleep for the last two Wednesdays right after treatment, I'd still fall into this pattern of not sleeping Wednesday nights. So I had a chat with my doctor.

She took me off of Benadryl, instead she gave me a prescription for Cetirizine, which is a non-drowsy pill. Presto, no more sleepy days and sleepless nights.

One other Taxol side effect is my skin is peeling on my left hand. It's mainly on my palm. I have a prescription for a topical medicine that I'll start taking soon. That's it for my half-way-there update.

In the photo is a few of the nurses who take care of me each week.