Tuesday, November 2

Dear Friends,
We are back from doing blood work and a meeting with the oncologist. The good news is that Tito continues to shrink. The unfortunate part is that I have a number of side effects on this second week that are still giving me grief: I have neuropathy in my fingers and toes, my eyes are really burning, itching and tearing, my nausea hasn't entirely left me, bad sleep and night sweats have begun (possibly the start of chemo-induced menopause) and now my nails are beginning to ridge and ache. So for these and other reasons, we are making a few adjustments to this week's chemo.
First, to help me with the muscle and joint pain, they are giving me Percocet for days 2-6. The Tylenol 3s didn't manage the pain last time, so we want to get that under control. That pain was so incredibly odd: spots of harsh pain would just light up someplace in my body and made me feel like a pinball machine out of control. The pain spots felt random, and at the height of it, they were in quick succession. I was taking 2 Tylenol 3s each 4 hours, and, combined with the toxicity of the Taxol, my blood work tells us that my liver is unhappy. Hopefully I won't have to take as much Percocet, we are going to change my diet and eat less meat and see if those changes can help my liver feel better.
Second, before the nurses give the Taxol injection, they inject, amongst other drugs, Benedryl to help avoid an allergic reaction. This drug apparently can increase eye pressure, which I really need to avoid. So they decided to skip this injection and watch me carefully to ensure I don't have a reaction. This makes me a little nervous, but I want to avoid post-treatment complications.
Finally, because my nails are ridging and tender, they are going to put my fingers and toes on ice during the injections. This will help reduce the amount of Taxol that gets to the nails, and hopefully help me keep them intact and manage the neuropathy. As I type right now, I don't have full sensation in my fingertips. I'd like to keep that side effect under control.
Several of you have written to me privately asking about the possibility of taking Taxotere rather than Taxol (Taxotere is a related chemo drug with apparently easier side effects). Because my cancer is fairly aggressive, and because there are greater survival rates with the 2-week protocol, the doctors wanted me to take that route. We learned today that clinical trials for this "dense dose" have been conducted with Taxol, but not Taxotere. So I'll be staying with this regimen, but thanks for the suggestion. I really appreciate it.
I'm so glad it's November and now I can say that the chemo will be over next month (December 2nd). Now it's making sure my body stays strong enough to manage the side effects and stay on schedule.
Thanks to all of you for your continued love and support,
Kip