Amy's Cancer Story

I have done two rounds of chemo so far – July 15 and 22. I will have chemo every week for 12 weeks. After the first round, I was exhausted as of July 15th. I sept a lot over the couple days before the chemo started, mostly, I believe, due to the port being put in. July 15th there were three drugs administered, Taxol which is chemotherapy, Herceptin and Perjeta, which are an immunotherapy, I believe. The second and third weeks are just Taxol. I was not as tired the second week. I am hoping I wont be as tired this Thursday.

This past week I broke out in a rash all over my face. It was actually acne. The doctor thinks it is a reaction to the pre-medication steroids. So I used my topical antibiotic (per doc’s instructions) that I use for acne to reduce the reaction. It worked. The acne is worse than anything I had as a teenager and hurts.

My hair is starting to come out more in the last day or so. At some point, I will have to shave my head. Not really looking forward to that. The second time I lost my hair, I did donate it. So if I time it right and have enough hair left, I will consider doing that again. This is very traumatizing for me as it is for a lot of woman – to loose their hair. If I was a short hair person, it would not matter maybe so much. I know it is sure easier to take of little or no hair. LOL – I am sure you can agree with that.

Side effects that I am having are nausea, digestive issues, fatigue, nose bleeding, and some headaches. I am suppose to drink a lot of water. If I don’t it is partially due to me forgetting. Sometimes things don’t always taste so go, even water.

Below is a photo a week or so before chemo and July 11th after my port was put in.