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Re: Nausea
Before chemo started, I had a heartfelt conversation with my oncologist: "I can't stand being nauseated. My daughter is lucky to be alive, because I was sick to my stomach 24 hours a day, starting within a week of becoming pregnant and not stopping until she was born. I was young then, and I lived with it--barely--but I can't live with it now."
Okay, it wasn't really a conversation. And maybe I had a semi-insane gleam in my eye. She didn't say a word; she just started writing prescriptions: Emend and Zofran (she also gave me Ativan and Decadron, but it was the first two that saved me). I didn't have any faith that they would help, but as it turned out, I never experienced even an instant of nausea.
I'm not sure what it is with some doctors. My neighbor was sick as a dog with chemo. When she told me how bad she felt, I thought it was because Medicaid was paying for her treatment but wouldn't pay for expensive anti-nausea drugs. Turns out that's not true--her doctor was just an idiot or a sadist (possibly both). After she talked to me, though, she discussed it with him. And after she discussed it with him, I didn't have to bring her more Ensure, because she was able to eat like a normal person.
AC is miserable, but modern medicine has the means to mitigate your suffering. Please insist. You don't deserve to feel that awful.
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2/6/09 Core needle biopsy: negative; Mammos through 2010: no change
3/30/11 Pea-sized lump in left breast at site of prior biopsy; mammo negative, sonogram not so much
4/14/11 Core needle biopsy: negative for cancer
5/18/11 Excisional biopsy 1.2 cm tumor, LVI, positive margin; ER+60%,PR+20%,HER2/CEP17 5
6/15/11 BMX: Left DCIS & LH; Right ADH; SNB: 2/3 nodes: 1.4 cm and 1 mm; ALND L1&2: 0/10; Stage IIa, Grade 3
7/14/11 CT/Bone scans NED; MUGA 66%
7/19/11 Biweekly dd AC w/Neulasta; done 8/30/11
9/13/11 Transfusion (Hemoglobin 8.6); MUGA 64%
9/20/11 Start Taxol + Herceptin; Taxol done 12/6/2011; continue Herceptin until 9/4/2012
12/27/11 Radiation - 6 weeks; 2/27/2012 - DONE! Yayyyy!
2/29/12 Start Tamoxifen 20 mg/day; continue until 2/28/17
5/16/12 Start five-years Metformin trial
6/19/12 MUGA 61%
8/21/12 Brain MRI NED (head still hurts, brain still fogged)
9/4/12 Herceptin done!
9/6/12 Port out!
7/11/13 Aricept 5mg for cognitive impairment; increased to 10mg as of 8/23/13; back to 5mg 12/2013
5/2014 Add Namenda 7mg
9/2014 Stop Aricept and Namenda; Neuropsychological evaluation
10/24/14 Start cognitive rehabilitation therapy
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