Chemo Cycle 7 – Round 1 (Side Effects)

It is Sunday evening, 4 days since my last chemo treatment. This last round has been tolerable. I don’t know if it was the reduced dosage (a 25% reduction in the Gemcitabine), a week off from chemo the prior week, a slight increase in my pain / anxiety drugs or what, but I’m just glad that I have felt pretty good the past 4 days. I have been able to eat (maintain my weight), do physical activity, and be with family and friends.

My next chemo is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. I’ll give a blood sample, see my chemo doctor for a clinical exam, and then get the chemo assuming my blood sample is within acceptable blood count levels. I’m better off than others who have required blood transfusions to keep their blood counts at levels acceptable to continuing chemo. We’ll probably also schedule the next series of scans which are targeted for mid-September. This is high anxiety time. It has been 2 to 3 months since my last PET and CT with contrast scans. That’s when they did the surgery to remove the one and only detectable cancer tumor under my right jaw area. There seems to be so many stories where chemo has not worked. Or, it worked for awhile, but then stopped working. So it seems only rational to me to have a heightened sense of anxiety. I try not to dwell on it however.

I hope you all had a good weekend. Take care.