Magical purple willow lantern

In 12 hours I will be waiting for my first dose of Taxotere. Taxotere is an anti-cancer (“antineoplastic” or “cytotoxic”) chemotherapy drug and is classified as a “plant alkaloid,” a “taxane” and an “antimicrotubule agent”.

Worst case scenario: chronic neuropathy, myalgia and arthralgia; chronic hair loss and acute nail loss; nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting; fatigue, weakness and fluid retention; anemia; fever and insomnia.

Yay.

Went to the hospital for a new biopsy today. On the way home, a semi had blown a wheel (or something) so we were all stuck in a tunnel for a long time. Long enough for P6 Rock to play both Road to Hell and Highway to Hell. Not sure if it’s a sign of sorts. Happy that DAB radio worked in that tunnel.

Some have asked me why I’m getting chemo before the operation instead of after.

As you may recall, the tumour shrunk dramatically the first couple of weeks. I’ve now been on Tamoxifen/Zoladex for 6 months and it stopped shrinking a couple of months ago. Although it’s still shriveled and deflated, it’s still almost the same diameter as the first time I had an ultrasound (ca 5 cm) so instead of calling it quits with my status as guinea pig (let’s face it, not much use in checking effect of meds after the mastectomy) The Powers That Be want to see if chemo after tam/zol will reduce the tumour more or if it’s as small as it will get.

So we’re entering phase II instead of just testing tam/zol. Hooray! I get to be a guinea pig for at least 8 more weeks! And I can now blame “chemo brain” for everything I forget.