Chemo N°6 completed!!

Finally, my blood got its act together and my oncologist OKed chemo number six. Instead of it being three weeks after chemo number five, it was actually eight weeks after, so long that my hair started growing back!

It went off without a hitch, no drama, I was close to the washroom, did some crocheting, watched some Housewives, and it was over.

Back when chemos were all on track, I had planned on taking the kids out for a Japanese dinner (or if COVID was still in play, to order in) to celebrate my end of active treatment. But that night, with both legs tightly bandaged up to the hip, and a diet that would have allowed whitefish, chicken, steamed rice and not much else, a night out was the last thing on my mind. Celebrating is a ways down the road, and for now there’s a lot of work to do to mitigate the side effects and late effects of this cancer treatment.

Crappy news #1

I went to the Lymphedema Clinic at Princess Margaret August 23 to get the swelling in my feet and ankles looked at and rule out lymphedema. I have been having peripheral neuropathy in hands and feet, hand and foot syndrome pain, the summer has been a hot one, I had three kids and had ankle swelling with all three, so I wasn’t worried about lymphedema. I have it in my right arm, hand and trunk as a result of having all my axilla lymph nodes removed back in 2014 with my breast cancer, but this time around I only had two sentinel lymph nodes removed for biopsy.

I will spare you the blow-by-blow account of the examination, measuring and conversation, but all of a sudden I was being told about Coban bandaging, compression garments, compression hose—wait! It’s like you’re talking like I have lymphedema IN MY LEGS!! The therapist looked confused—like I didn’t know I had lymphedema in both legs. I didn’t—I was there to rule OUT lymphedema, not be told how to manage it.

I cried in the appointment, I cried in the car all the way home, I cried more at home. Both legs. I couldn’t comprehend it.

I was scheduled for a doppler ultrasound of both legs two days later to rule out blood clots, then I would have Coban bandaging of both legs, from toes to upper thigh, for six to eight weeks to get rid of as much excess lymph fluid as possible. The bandaging would be done in-home at first by a nurse, then I would go to a community health clinic every three or four days for bandaging.

I couldn’t believe it.