Getting Ready for the Next Ride

July 26, 2008

Dear Friends,

I am sorry you have not received a recent update from me, I know so many of you are wondering how I am but not want to ‘intrude’.

Going back to my amusement park analogy, I am off of the Adriamycin/Cytoxan with Neulasta (A/C dose dense) ride. Carefully disembarking and heading off to the next one. The A/C ride was intense. Like any good roller coaster, you start off feeling great and looking forward to the next rise and fall however; like anything else too much can leave you feeling a little icky. The cumulative effects do wear on a person.

One is that my taste buds have changed, the thought of my favorite foods no longer stimulates my appetite, the foods just don’t taste the same. In fact, I was telling the cancer care coordinator, Edra, that I think chemo has cured my cravings for chocolate. I do not know if that is a good thing or not though. However, I did have a wonderful meal last nite, we went to Applebees and I had a Sirloin Steak with Parmesan Crust and some awesome garlic mashed potatoes. To have a meal actually taste good has made me feel so good and hopeful for the future. Isn’t it funny how we don’t appreciate what we have until it is gone?

The other cumulative effect is the loss of energy. This is probably due to the loss of taste buds and my decreased appetite, which has left my hemoglobin at a borderline basis of 10. Not low enough for the doctor to be overly concerned, just keeping a careful eye on it. I am limited as to what supplements I am able to take due to the clinical trial that I am on, so I am working on including more iron rich foods into what I eat. It is a good thing I love Cream of Wheat! 50% of your daily iron requirement in a serving, so that is my breakfast every day. The other possible cause of the lack of energy may be the Neulasta shot, which is to increase white blood cell production. It leaves my joints feeling just so achy and sore from about day 3-5 after the shot. Just a fun fact, that Neulasta shot retails at something like $3800 a dose! Thank the Lord that John has a job that provides us with wonderful insurance coverage.

Now I’m standing in line and getting ready for my next adventure ride. I’m kind of wondering if I really want to get on, but knowing what a sucker I am for a great ride I will be ready and take that ride! This next round of chemotherapy is Taxol, which carries a whole different set of possible side effects. It will be interesting to see how I react, I have been told by one doctor that this is usually easier, but time will tell! This will be an IV therapy every week for 12 weeks. As part of the clinical trial for Avastan, that will be administered once every 3 weeks during the Taxol treatment. So for the math majors out there, that is 12 doses of Taxol and 4 doses of Avastan/placebo.

At the end of the Taxol treatment, the clinical trial will be ‘unblinded’. At that time we will know if I have been receiving Avastan or a placebo. If I have been receiving Avastan there is a 20% chance that I will be reassigned to a group that will receive an additional 10 cycles of Avastan. If I am in that group, I will receive Avastan once every 21 days for 10 cycles. Therefore, that will be like a surprise ending to this next ride!

Once again, I cannot thank my friends enough for your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Lynn