One Month Post Radiation & Herceptin Chemotherapy
I’m sitting here about to get my fifth round of Herceptin chemotherapy. It has been a little over a month since my last round of radiation and today I decided it’s finally time to reflect on the last month and talk about how Herceptin only chemotherapy has affected me. I figured that it would also be a good time to share how I am feeling a month out from my last round of radiation.
Since my last post I have been pretty busy with school, been hiking a lot, and also trying to get into the freelance writing game. After completing my final round of radiation, I had a week before my next round of Herceptin. I felt the normal amount of tiredness that I had become accustomed to going through radiation. It’s interesting how the longer you are in treatment the more normal starts to feel like exhaustion. My concept of normal is slightly skewed I suppose after months of treatment. I did experience some skin peeling under both my armpits after my final round of radiation, but it healed within a week. I also noticed a mild skin darkening on my right breast especially after the final round of radiation, (the skin looked tanner where the radiation had been administered and there were mild tan lines on my chest) but that also faded within two weeks. Other than that, I had no other physical side effects from radiation and my oncologist said that my skin handled the treatment phenomenally.
My fourth round of Herceptin only, on March 17, left me feeling icky. By then some of the effects of radiation had worn off and there was a noticeable difference between how I felt before Herceptin and after. The side effects with Herceptin seem to be mainly a loss of appetite and lower abdominal issues (aka going #2 more than usual). I suppose I felt a general sense of malaise for the first four days after the treatment as well, but with receiving it only a week and a half after radiation, there is no real telling what may have been causing the tiredness.
Now, I believe that what I feel for side effects after this round of Herceptin will be a true picture of what the drug does to my body and mind. The previous round seemed to impact mainly my digestive system, perhaps this round will be the same.
As I continue going through more mild treatment my life is starting to feel more like my own again. I hike two to three times per week, have class twice a week, and am trying to get more involved in the freelance writing community. I look at myself in the mirror and my lashes are about ¾ of the way back in length, and I have gone 30 days since shaving my head for the last time, so I have about ½” of growth now. I can tell the difference in how strong I am now, in terms of cardio, compared to during Taxol chemotherapy. When I look back at some of the hikes I did during the winter while receiving weekly Taxol, I am shocked that I was able to do the things I was doing, knowing how weak I really was. I suppose you don’t realize how weak you are until you have something to compare it to.
I’m continuing to work on getting back into my pre-cancer fitness level and I know that the only way to do that is to work hard and push myself. I look at my arms, stomach, and legs now and see a solid 10-15 pounds of extra weight that I have gained since August and for the first time in my life I feel like I have a legitimate excuse for gaining weight. I want to get back down to my pre-cancer weight (whatever that was, since I don’t weigh myself I am not sure), but mostly so that I can be able to climb mountains faster, not so that I look better. This body has been through a lot. If I’ve learned anything over the past eight months it’s that I am not only stronger than I ever imagined both physically and mentally, it’s that I owe this body a lot for putting up with everything I’ve put it through. I am stronger than I thought.
