It’s been another week and another week of new-ish symptoms.
When I was getting AC chemo I had changes in the way food tasted. Everything was a metallic flavor and just off. That improved when the AC chemo stopped, until this week. Now, I again have changes in taste. Everything taste bland. My favorite sweets like Dr. Pepper and this cute Little Debbie Valentine cakes are far less sweet. It’s hard for me to eat breads because there is no taste at all to them. I crave things and then eat them and am not satisfied because of the taste! I did find one thing that tasted amazing and I know most of you will not be surprised by this. Last year our Dairy Queen closed suddenly and I was bummed because one of my favorite fall/winter foods went away. A little over a week ago the DQ reopened. Chris and I have been trying hard to eat at home to save money and eat healthier so I wasn’t sure when I would be able to go. One night this week I had fixed dinner and we ate. Well, everyone else did. I couldn’t handle the lack of flavor and opted to give my portions to my growing boys. We were “celebrating” the end of the weekend or something and I decided we would go to DQ for ice cream. On the way there I decided to get my favorite food…chicken and dumplings! I was worried I would be unimpressed, but I took that first bite and all the flavors! I think it’s mostly the salt and pepper that stood out but it was the most I had tasted in days. And it’s probably the best I’ve eaten all week.
Another new symptom is neuropathy in my fingers and toes. It is a know side effects of Taxol and the reason I ice my hands and feet during the infusion as a prevention mechanism. It is not painful at this point but I do feel like the pads of my fingers and toes are numb. This is something that will be monitored by my medical team and hopefully will not increase in severity or be long term.
One final update. I am now about two months post AC chemo. The doctor said that my hair should begin growing back, even while undergoing Taxol treatment. I was skeptical due to accounts from other cancer fighters in my support group. This week Chris and Isaac said in separate occasions they could see some hair coming in! It’s hard to tell color or texture, but there is definitely some peach fuzz. This is exciting, but I also secretly like having no hair to fix! I am interested to see how long it is before it can be styled and/or dyed PINK!
Tomorrow morning I will receive Taxol treatment six! This is the halfway point of Taxol. If all goes as planned, my last Taxol treatment and FINAL CHEMO will be March 18th!
The plan then is a two week break before beginning 30 daily (weekdays) rounds of radiation.
Let the countdowns begin!
