Pam's Journal: Dec. 8. 2002 -- Moving Forward
Editor's Note: 7NEWS Meteorologist Pam Daale is grateful to all of the viewers who have expressed their best wishes as she wages her fight against breast cancer.
Daale has chosen to use TheDenverChannel.com as her way of keeping the public updated on her health. New journal entries will be posted weekly.
Now that I've hit the half-way point in my treatment, I'm looking ahead to
my next 4 treatments of Taxol chemotherapy.
I almost said looking "forward" to my next treatment, but I don't know of anyone who looks forward to their chemotherapy, even though we know it's killing those nasty cancer cells!
But I have been told that the side effects from Taxol aren't as bad as the
Adriamycin/Cytoxin (AC) treatments.
The main side effect from Taxol (or maybe it's just the most obvious
difference) is neuropathy. Neuropathy as a side effect from Taxol is
defined as numbness, tingling, or burning in the hands and/or feet. If that
does happen to me, I'll have it only half as bad as most folks since I can't
feel my feet anyway! (There are benefits to being a paraplegic!)
And like the AC treatments, I have a prescription for medications that will
help lessen the side effects of Taxol. For AC treatments I took 5 pretty
pastel pills just before the treatments were administered. For Taxol, I'll
take 5 pills 12 hours before treatment, and 5 more pills 6 hours before
treatment.
Since my appointment is 9 a.m., that means I'll be setting my alarm
for 3 a.m. to take the last dose -- yippee! But I'm just thankful there's
something that can help the side effects. I can sleep anytime, anywhere,
so the 3 a.m. wake-up call will be a minor inconvenience.
The other side effects are similar to that of AC, including stomach upset,
vomiting, mouth sores, lowering of the red and white blood cell counts, and
hair loss, although I can't lose much more hair than what's already taken
the leap off my body!
My husband looked at me this week and said, "You lost your eyebrows!" Well,
they aren't completely gone, but yes, they're hard to define these days. I tried to "hang on" to my eyelashes for as long as possible, but they too succumbed to the toxins. I shouldn't say they're gone. They're just really, really short.
And I just don't understand that hair thing either. Like, why is it that I
have to keep shaving my legs? And my head -- what's left is still growing!
The Bible says that God knows the number of hairs on our heads. Well on
chemo, I might at least be able to figure out the number I have left.
There's an average of 10 hairs per square inch, so if I knew the total area
of my scalp, I could figure it out. They're just there, sticking up like
peach fuzz on a newborn!
What really makes me scratch my almost-bald head is, if the chemo is going
to kill my hair, why doesn't it kill all of it? And why did it turn the
roots black before they fell out? And why does it come back curly and in a
different color? And why don't the leg hairs fall out?! Too many
questions, not enough answers, and probably not important enough to care
about anyway!
One thing I am going to ask my doctor about this week is why some women get
all three chemotherapy drugs at the same time, and what's the difference.
I spoke with someone this past week who was getting AC in conjunction with
Taxotere (which I will be switched to if I don't tolerate the Taxol) once
every three weeks. She had only one treatment so far, but was doing quite
well.
If you're someone who is newly diagnosed with breast cancer and you want
more information about the drugs you'll be receiving, you can just search
the Internet. I did a search for the specific name of the drug, and
usually, either the drug maker's Web site came up, or a site completely
devoted to the drug popped up before my eyes.
I know that sometimes too much information is overwhelming, but these sites usually had easy info as well as FAQs.
So this week I head into a new era of my treatment. It is a journey after
all! My next writing will let you know what it's like. Until that
time -- keep getting to know your breasts!
Pam Daale
The Happy Cancer Patient
You can e-mail Pam Daale at Pam_Daale@TheDenverChannel.com.
![]() BREAST CANCER SELF-EXAM ARTICLES: WEB RESOURCES: |
The Happy Cancer Patient
You can e-mail Pam Daale at Pam_Daale@TheDenverChannel.com.
Previous Stories:
- December 6, 2002: Pam's Journal: Dec. 1 -- Medical Miracles November 24, 2002: Pam's Journal: Halfway Mark
- November 18, 2002: Pam's Journal: Picking Bones With Advertisers November 10, 2002: Pam's Journal: It's In The Genes November 3, 2002: Pam's Journal: Emotional Rollercoaster October 28, 2002: Pam's Journal: Chemo, Take Three
- October 26, 2002: Oct. 25, 2002: Hero Helps Move Women Through Cancer Journey
- October 22, 2002: Pam's Journal: The Hair Thing
- October 21, 2002: Pam's Journal: An Uneventful Week
- October 18, 2002: Spa, Fitness Center Pampers Cancer Patients
- October 7, 2002: 54,587 Join Race For The Cure
- October 7, 2002: Pam's Journal: The Race
- October 7, 2002: Pam's Personal Race For The Cure
- October 4, 2002: Pam Tells Of Her Chemo Progress
- October 4, 2002: Pam's Journal: Never More Than You Can Handle
- October 1, 2002: Pam's Journal: Chemo, Take Two
- September 21, 2002: Pam's Story: My Battle With Cancer
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