Almost a month has passed by since my latest treatment updates and I can finally say things have sort of paid off. I don’t have good news, but no bad news either. So let me tell you what has happened in the past 4 weeks.
I have done 2 cycles of chemotherapy, which means I have done 2 times of 4 days with a break of 21 days in between. Additionally within 3 weeks I have done 13 irradiation sessions on the spine and 8 sessions on the two big lung metastases. Surprisingly, I had no side effects throughout the entire 4 weeks, besides some crazy low blood values. As we had expected my white blood cells were low for a few days, but this time I had low hemoglobin, in short HB, and platelets values.
Whilst having a blood transfusion…
Hemoglobin is a protein in the red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body, and the normal values for women range between 12 – 15 grams/deciliter. The main symptoms for having a low HB value are fatigue and shortness of breath. The week after my second chemo cycle I went for my rehab and only after 10 minutes of training I collapsed and started not feeling well. The following day I went my scheduled blood check up, and I got the answer for my dizziness and my shortness of breath. My HB value was at 7.0 and I immediately got a transfusion of red blood cells (also called erythrocytes) followed by a platelets transfusion, as those were low too. At the same time I started having a problem swallowing food and liquids and severe heartburn at my chest, which turned out to be a gastro-oesophagitis, an inflammation of the gullet and stomach mucosa. This is a common “delayed” side effect of chemotherapies when your white blood cells drop and your immune system is weak. There is not much you can do besides waiting for your blood cells to increase that help to repair the inflammation. However, there are some tips I can give in such cases: drink lots of sage and ginger tea, don’t eat acidic and fatty foods but rather alkaline foods (google which vegetables and fruits are alkaline), and lastly have many small portions of food throughout the day instead of 3 big meals a day (you can’t eat them anyway). After a few days it got better and even the heartburn stopped.
Skin color change at my back due to radiation
Overall, this second chemo cycle did major damage to my blood cells, as within 2 weeks I had 4 red blood cells transfusion and 2 platelets transfusions already. My skin at the back (where I got the spine irradiation) turned a bit black, but it’s not causing any issues, and I just got to put a special cream to not let the skin dry out. However, I am feeling physically quite fit and well, which is the most important thing.
In Munich with Richard
I also had some exciting moments during the past weeks, that included my Torino trip (see travel blog “My Love for Juve”) and I had my dear friend Richard from Australia visiting me for a few days. We spend a fun weekend in Munich together with my brother, ending with some excitement. To keep it short, we arrived in Munich on Saturday, had a hotel booked in the city center, and my brother parked our car in one of the public shopping center garages. The following morning whilst I was checking out, my brother wanted to get the car and noticed that the public garage is closed on a Sunday. There was no chance to get in and get a car. We started waiting at the entrance of the parking garage hoping that one of the residents (having a permanent parking) may enter the garage. We tried to call the police if they can help without any luck. In the end after waiting for 2,5 hrs someone enter the garage and we were able to head back to Stuttgart. We definitively learnt a lesson that day from our own stupidity!
My new Plie 3.0 knee and new carbon black shaft
I got some more good news though, which I would like to share with you. As you know one of the main goals of the rehab was to get my final prosthetic leg approved by the insurance company. The day I was traveling to Torino for the weekend I got a call from the insurance company informing me that they will cover the cost a 100% for my new leg. Hence, I am now a proud owner of a Plie 3.0, the microprocessor controlled knee, and the Agilix foot, a multi-axial and super flexible foot. Both products are produced by Freedom Innovations. Just the other day, I also got my new shaft which I have chosen to be in carbon black in line with my black leg, and I got to admit that it looks really really cool.
I kept the latest news for last: I had my CT-scan the other day, and for the first time I left the doctors office with no bad news. My metastases (in both lung and spine) are unchanged meaning neither they have grown bigger nor new ones have popped up. I would have preferred if I was told they have shrunken, but hey this news is not bad either and I guess the chemo is doing a better effect than the previous one. Now we just got to pray that my blood cells recover well in the next weeks, so that I can continue with the therapy after my well-deserved holiday. Fingers crossed, as I am thankful if we can just stagnate the growth of the existing ones.