Herceptin, wine and other stuff...

[Louise O'Brien]

A silly question, I know. Maybe several silly questions.

A bit of background first.
I don't drink hard liquor but have always enjoyed a glass or two of wine with dinner. I stopped that during my chemo treatments, except for one or two during the Christmas season. I finished chemo on Feb. 28 (Halleluia!!!) and had my first Herceptin three weeks ago. It was the loading dose and I had the predictable chills and fever that rose to 101 degrees. My husband was about to take me to the hospital when the fever slowly started to go down - and by noon the next day - I was back to my old self.

Question Number One:
I have a second treatment this week. It's much shorter - and I'm wondering if I'll have the same reaction.

Question Number Two:
My hair is starting to grow back - but it's coming back white. Really white. I did not have white hair before - a bit of salt and pepper - so this is interesting. It looks like a buzz cut right now and if it were coloured, I might be able to ditch the wig and go baseball hats, but that white makes it look almost invisible. Anyone else experience anything like this?

And finally - to the wine.
No sooner did chemo end then I faced another challenge - the death of my sister. She had been terminally ill for several years and her care was a challenge as she wasn't the easiest person to deal with. It was five years of incredible stress. I am now been faced with the cleanout of her apartment (she was a pack rat and we had no idea where anything was) and executor's duties. So it has been incredibly exhausting and stressful and I haven't had the rest I had hoped to have after chemo.

So there is nothing I would enjoy more now than a glass of wine. I'm not talking about guzzling a few glasses every day and I'm aware alcohol is to be avoided during treatment. It's only during week three when I've had a glass or two and I don't do it every day - perhaps twice in a week.

But am I harming myself? I don't want to do anything that would interfere with treatment. I still have a year to go and I want to do it right - but I also want to enjoy life. I like to cook and I enjoy eating out and I love sipping some good wine.