Round 4 of 6 Pre-surgery

I didn't post after my last round. But round 3 went decently. As I've described it, the first 4-5 days of chemo, don't ask me how I feel because I'll tell you that I hate chemo, this sucks and I don't want to do it any more. But then I have a good week where it really is ok and it gives me time to recover before the next round and be ready to do it again.

Last year with the full-strength Oxaliplatin, some rounds I only had a couple days where my symptoms were really low and by the4th round, the pins and needles and trouble swallowing never fully disappeared. Actually, after round 4 last year, I was so wrecked I asked to be done after round for or to at least have for a week off over Christmas to get me through rounds 5 & 6 and they ended up letting me have it and when I went back the following week, my absolute neutrophil count was too low for chemo so I had to wait another week and ended up having 2 weeks off between rounds 4 and 5. Then we lowered my dosage of Oxaliplatin for rounds 5 & 6 and dropped it entirely for rounds 7 & 8.

As much as I feel better than I did last year, my body never truly had enough time to recover from last year and my neutrophils weren't great when I started chemo and quite a bit of my other bloodwork is either high or low. When I had bloodwork done and went for a follow-up with my oncologist on Thursday last week, my neutrophils were at 1. Generally that is the cut-off for chemo but luckily I still had between Thursday and yesterday and we were pretty sure they would go up at least a little before chemo and they did. 

Unfortunately, because they are so low and we really don't want to miss any weeks at all until I make it through all 6 cycles, they had to adjust my medication because my levels drop between rounds. So, they added on fluids prior to chemo because I'm having trouble staying hydrated. They also lowered my Oxaliplatin and dropped my 12 minute bolus of Flourouracil. Hopefully that helps me recover enough between cycles that I don't need to miss any cycles. 

I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed that we had to lower my meds after starting lower this year. I'm disappointed that my body is struggling with the treatment. I wish I could do something to fix it but it's out of my hands. I just have to move around and get some exercise but otherwise rest, eat healthy, take my vitamins, stay hydrated and positive and hope that it's enough. I'm doing my best to stay positive and support my body through this so that I'm on the winning side of this battle.

On the bright side, my symptoms are way lower and more tolerable and while they are still there, I am feeling ok when I would normally be really pretty rough today. We will see how the next few days go but I'm grateful that I'm not in too rough of shape since it will be a busy week with Thanksgiving and visiting family.

I hope that everyone has time with people that are important to them and has things they are grateful for this Thanksgiving season.