Allergic to Tape? Of Course I Am!

Because it has become quite a comedy of errors on chemo days, I thought I would post about my latest adventure.

Friday was my second round of Taxol, which is honestly WAY better than the AC dosing that I was getting. It is SUPPOSED to take about an hour for the infusion, plus 15 minutes or so for pre-meds, plus about 30 minutes for lab work. So, all told, I am only supposed to be there for two hours TOPS. At least, that's what they keep promising. Hasn't ever lived up to that. This past week was the kicker: arrived at 10:30am...left the hospital at 4:15pm. I wish that was a joke.

One of the biggest snafus that day was my allergic reaction to...medical tape? Band aids? The infusion needle stabbed into my port? I'm not sure, but it was immediate and painful and caused MASSIVE delays as I threatened to rip out my port.

Here's what I looked like about 10 hours after the reaction:

You can't really see the port in this picture, but it was so red it appeared to be on FIRE! And here I thought I'd have to save Allicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" for a Music Monday during radiation. Maybe not, because I was truly on fire.

Thanks to several people who have offered suggestions to solve the problem this week. Will let you know what works!

Taxol Takes it's Toll

Friday was Chemo, Stage 2, Round 1. The first of my 12 weekly rounds of Taxol. This is where you will find me every Friday from now on: sitting in my chemo chair. Today was kind of nice because the sunshine was streaming in through the windows and it felt a little like spring (at least until the sun went behind the clouds).

So the first 8 weeks of chemo (A/C) were designed to kill me, and I have to admit that there were days when I thought it was going to. But I have come out the other side, and have been promised that these next 12 weeks are going to seem rather mild by comparison. FINGERS CROSSED! KNOCKING ON WOOD! Whatever needs to be done to make that come true!

Now, please don't think that Taxol is going to be a breeze. There are rumors that I might lose my finger and toe nails by the end of this process (doesn't that sound like awesome fun?!). And another fun side effect is that I will get even more tired than I already am. For example, the doctor warned that somewhere around day 3 every week I could suddenly feel a desperate need for a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day. I'll let you know!

And there is also the possibility that you could have a horrible allergic reaction to Taxol...like call the ER and shoot me with an epipen allergic reaction. Sounds great! But, I managed to make it through the dosing without that, so strong possibility that won't happen. Again, FINGERS CROSSED!

But because of this possibility of allergic reaction, I was dosed with massive quantities of Benedryl as part of my pre-meds (saline, steroids, Benedryl...and probably something else...I stop paying attention sometimes). So. Much. Benedryl. Quantities that caused me not to really remember what else happened on Friday. Keith left and came back with lunch. I ate it. I got a visit from my favorite pharmacy gal (maybe I'll just start calling her FPG). And then, I passed out. For an hour and a half until it was done and Keith came back to pick me up. Thank goodness I brought my comfy blanket.

And when I got home? I slept some more. Because I was super groggy and a little loopy. Had planned on posting this last night, but friends don't let friends post while hopped up on Benedryl.