I got some good news this weekend.  My next round of chemo would be my last!

My doctor told me last week that I would need to give myself Neupogen shots to keep up my white blood cell counts and avoid any infections after my next round of chemo.  My insurance company required the shots come from a mail-order pharmacy, and yet they had not yet been approved by last Friday and everything was closed on the weekend.  Thus, it was highly unlikely that the shots would be delivered by Tuesday (5/9/17).  In fact, according to the on-line pharmacy, it could take up to a week or two for me to get them.  My oncologist didn’t want to postpone my treatment, so she suggested we proceed with the Taxol/carboplatin as scheduled for Monday and then she would give me a Neulasta shot in her office on Wednesday.  Because Neulasta is a longer-lasting drug, it would prevent me from being able to receive my last two Taxol treatments.  Thus, Monday would be my last round of chemo!

So now the bad news.  Chemo proceeded as planned on Monday, but when I contacted my doctor about coming in for the shot, there was some confusion. As it turns out, the shots had been approved on Monday but the on-line pharmacy messed things up and failed to send them.  After multiple calls back and forth today with my doctor’s office, the pharmacist and the on-line pharmacy, we decided upon Plan B (or C?): I would receive one shot in the doctor’s office today (not the long-lasting one) and the other will be delivered to my house tomorrow for me to administer to myself.  This puts me back on my regular schedule, with two remaining Taxol treatments on the next two Mondays. Parole granted!  No, parole revoked!  Bummer.

So now I prepare to deal with the side effects of the carboplatin for this round.  What will they be? How long will they last? How badly will I feel?  Oh, the anticipation. The normal queasiness began yesterday but one new side effect is a soapy, chalky taste in my mouth.  I keep trying to find a food or something to drink that will get rid of it, but, in fact, pretty much everything tastes awful.  What a sad day when even candy, ice cream and chocolate have an unpleasant taste.  I guess that’s more bad news!

P.S. I’m feeling a little brain fog and can’t seem to explain things well, so my apologies if this entry is a bit convoluted.