Jill and Justin: May 2012

Family Photos 2012

It was very important to me to get family photos done prior to starting Chemo. Due to the wind, it wasn't the best day to have them taken outside but we had no choice since it was the last day of descent weather prior to chemo day. A HUGE thanks to Sharlene (Lemon Tree Lane Photography) for fitting us in to your schedule.

Race for the Cure Event!

I was so excited and looking forward to participating in the race. Nothing, not even a low heart rate, or all the side effects of chemo were going to stop me from showing up.

On Saturday morning, we had to wake up at 5am in order to get to the race on time. It was very difficult to pull my butt out of bed as I was very tired and feeling quite a bit of the side effects for the first time.

Lovely side effects:

- Bone aches (back and legs)

- Scalp itching

- Dry/yucky taste in the mouth, teeth ached

- Swollen glands; hard to chew food

It was a bit depressing waking up to such a drastic change and it took me a moment to realize that I was not super-human and my body, just like anyone else on Chemo, was going to experience all the typical side effects. It’s not that I was naïve and didn’t think it would happen to me, I just didn’t expect them all to happen at once and so quickly. The previous days I had felt myself, with the exception of blurred vision and being a little tired. Even though I was feeling a bit off - not myself, I knew I had to pull myself together and get to the race.

The race was incredible! I was so touched by everyone that was there, especially the members of the Jillybean JetBlue’s Squad. As we began to walk, I looked at all of the people who were walking with me and got this overwhelming feeling of joy and gratitude for each team member. I don’t cry often but I began to cry because I was so touched by each of them (lucky I was wearing sunglasses). There I was experiencing all of the side effects and feeling a bit down but each team member showed me so much love and gave me strength. I was moved by the amount of people who would give up there Saturday morning to be by my side to walk a mile with me. At that moment, I stopped thinking about myself and the pain I was experiencing and began to enjoy the moment. I will never forget the feeling I had during the walk.

Thank you all who were part of the team, I am extremely grateful for the memories. I honestly couldn’t have done it without each of you!

What a week!!!

This week has been very interesting and full of hospital visits. I will try to post more often so there aren't a ton of entries to read all at once.

1st Chemo Treatment

As excited and prepared as you can be to receive chemo, Justin and I arrived at the office at 1130. My vitals were great and I was feeling good. The nurses started my IV (port to come) around noon and began to give me the steroids and anti-nausea medications. Once those were complete, around 1300, they started the first chemo drug – Taxotere. Within the first 10 minutes of receiving the drug, my body had an allergic reaction; my spine ached immensely and my chest tightened - I could barely breathe. The nurse immediately stopped the Taxotere and started pumping me full of Benadryl, more steroids and oxygen. During this time they were taking my vitals and my heart had rate dropped from my normal rate of the low 60s to 45. Dr. Stinnett (oncologist) came to assess me and determined we needed to wait for my heart rate to return to normal in order to begin the Taxotere again. After waiting for two hours and due to the late hour in the day, they decided to send me home and restart the chemo the next day at 0900.

It was disappointing that I wasn’t able to complete the treatment on Tuesday and that we would have to spend Justin’s birthday at the hospital. They say 1 out of 6 patients have an allergic reaction to Taxotere. It’s just my luck that I am part of those statistics.

Prior to Chemo

During allergic reaction

2^nd Time Around

Upon returning to the hospital for Chemo, the nurses took my vitals. My heart rate was still in the mid-40s but the doctor decided to proceed with the treatment. To prevent the allergic reaction from happening again, the nurses give me additional steroids and Benadryl prior to the chemo drugs. From all the steroids and Benadryl, I was feeling like a balloon and extremely tired. I really thought I would be able to get a lot accomplished within the 4-5 hours it takes for the chemo to be administered but in reality I did not get a thing done – I just slept the whole time.

Justin likes to say that we enjoyed a couple of cocktails together for his birthday!

Mix of cocktails

Pre-Chemo Day 2, second try

Day 2 - During Chemo (trying to open my eyes)

Neulasta Shot

Some may not know (I didn’t until I arrived for my first chemo treatment) that the day after chemo treatments I have to go back to the hospital to get a neulasta shot. It is a drug that stimulates the body to produce white blood cells which help the body fight infection. One of the side effects are that it makes your bones hurt, and it indeed does that.

I planned on a quick in/out appointment to get the shot – it shouldn’t have lasted longer than 20-30 minutes but I planned wrong! Every time I go to the office they will take my vitals. Well, they took my vitals and my heart rate was in the low-30s. The nurses were impressed that I was walking, talking and in general functioning. I felt myself with the exception of blurry vision and a slight headache.

The doctors and nursing staff couldn’t figure out why my heart rate would be so low and were concerned my heart was failing. Since they don’t specialize in the heart they wanted me to see the heart specialists to get an ECG, so our 20-30 minute appointment turned in to an all-day event.

It really seems like my body just wants to be as complicated as it can be. I guess Justin and I haven’t been through enough… After waiting several hours, we got the EKG done and it was normal, with the exception of my heart rate it was still in the mid-30s. The nurse called the on-call cardiologist to come see me but they did not respond to the request, so they sent me to the ER to get the full works done. I wanted to hurt whichever cardiologist was on call and did not respond.

Upon arriving at the ER, the doctors and nurses were very attentive to me. They were also impressed that I was walking and coherent with such a low heart rate. They really thought at any moment that my heart was going to fail.

While in the ER they did another EKG, Echo (ultra sound of the heart), chest x-ray and blood work – all were NORMAL!!! I have a very healthy heart!

After the ER doctor spoke with the cardiologist, they decided there wasn’t anything they could do for me and since I was functioning as normal they discharged me.

In speaking with all of the doctors, and being told the chemo drugs do not make lower or increase heart rates, Justin was convinced he determined what caused my heart rate to drop….anti-nausea medication!

My heart rate began returning to its normal rate of low-60s by Friday afternoon/evening.