Some Side Effects of Chemo

Side effects are always something anyone battling cancer has to deal with.  In my reading of blogs and discussion boards, I have discovered that not every person in my situation has the exact same challenges.  In thinking about that, it does make sense.  No one’s body and make up is exactly the same as another’s.  I did find, though, that the information I gleaned helped me know what I could expect.

With the Adriamycin/Cytoxan and neulasta shot, the side effects were these:

•      Feeling a bit queasy toward the end of the week that I had an infusion – no nausea or vomiting, as my pills worked well
•      Hair loss the week I had my second infusion
•      Not too energetic those days I felt a bit queasy

I never was “out of commission” for more than just a few days in the two-week rotation.

----------------------------------

• With Taxol, the side effects were these (and may have been the culmination of the AC and neulasta)      

• A bit of neuropathy in the smaller toes of my right foot

• Scaly skin on the edges of my heels and around my toes as well as up to and round my right ankle (outer) 

• A pesky cough

• A gut-wretching cough for a day or two

• Aching bones in the upper legs and hips for a few days, usually the weekend after an infusion

I have struggled more with the taxol than the other chemo, but compared to what I have heard and read, I have not had it too badly.

God is gracious.