On Friday the 10th Shermance started her weekly Taxol - for the next 12 weeks. She was very nervous about the new treatment, mostly because she had heard of incidents when it stopped a person's heart and she's heard of cases of fingernails and toenails falling off due to the meds! Uuugh! As a result her heart was racing and her mouth was moving almost as fast! Her blood pressure was WAY higher than usual, and she couldn't stop relating story after story to anyone who would listen. We saw Christa, our scheduler, on the way into the office and snapped a few pics, then met Shannon inside for check-in, and talked the poor nurses ears off until we finally met with Jolie, our oncology nurse. She helped calm Shermance down, if only a little. The best part of that visit was a new medicine - Xanex for anxiety and a controlled-release version of Ambien for a lasting sleep...previously Shermance could sleep but only till about 3am and then she'd be wide-eyed in bed. The new meds gave some hope of a better few weeks upcoming. And at $190 for the generic version of Ambien CR, it better work wonders.
In the chemo lounge Shermance met all her chemo buddies, one of who is planning on writing a book with help from Shermance and at least one other chemo patient. She also met a few new patients including Grace - a bubbly woman who was there caring for her father, but she is also going through breast cancer treatment herself! We were granted the best seat in the house this round with plenty of room for a cancer hero right next to a window. Shermance had many of her chemo good-luck items so she was surrounded with support. In addition, she was decked out more-than-ever in shiny BLING and bright turqoise - a color that is supposed to promote healing. We'll try anything if it wil help! And even if it just gives more HOPE!
We heard great stories of hope and also learned that the nurses there will provide icepacks for feet and hands to reduce the neuropathy that can cause darkening of nails, nails falling out, and even permanent loss of feeling in the fingers and toes - potentially devastating for a dental hygienist! We learned about it late in our Taxol cycle so didn't do it this round, but will be sure to do it during the next round.
Shermance napped while I filled her request for an Original Schlotzky's lunch...It made her happy to have it even though she wasn't up for eating it upon my return. She just wanted to sleep.
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