Brad & Noelle Koosmann & Family: First Taxol Treatment: Over and Done With!

My relief over having my first Taxol treatment is tangible. It's always more difficult to face something that is unknown to you, so now that I know how my body responded to this treatment, it gives me some peace of mind for my remaining three treatments.

Brad and I headed to the cities on Tuesday evening again, making a stop in Rogers, MN to run to Cabelas quickly and have supper with Brad's Uncle Roger (whom he lived with in Brooklyn Park for the year before we got married.) It was wonderful to catch up with Roger, and we enjoyed some good conversation and a great meal at Maynards. We then headed to the cities and stayed overnight at my grandparents house again.

Wednesday morning was the same routine: bloodwork, a medical appointment, and chemotherapy. This time we met with Katie, a Nurse Practitioner, who went over my case, answered questions, and talked about my four remaining Taxol treatments. She did a physical exam and noted that my tumor is the same size as two weeks prior...so here's hoping that Taxol continues to cut it down further!

Chemotherapy was a bit different this time. My nurse had trouble starting the IV (never fun), but after some maneuvering and an eventual second IV try in a different spot, she got it to work. I'd been taking some strong steroids prior to my appointment, and they continued to add more during the initial infusion, as well as some Benedryl, to protect my body in case I experienced a reaction to the Taxol (I didn't.) One of the most notable things regarding this chemo treatment was a positive one: when I was given the Taxol drip, I didn't experience the immediate digestive clamp-down that I did with the A/C. Yay! The clamp-down was an awful, nauseating, heavy feeling, like all of my digestive organs were shutting down, and I'm overjoyed that I won't be experiencing that with Taxol.

While getting chemo, we met quickly with a nutritionist, and Brad's sister, Jill, stopped by again with lunch (Thanks, Jill!) We visited for awhile until the Benedryl rendered my coherency completely useless and my eyes started shutting even though they were under strict orders by me to stay open (aka: I started falling asleep.) Poor Brad had to sit there for about three hours while I got to snooze in a comfy, heated massage chair. What a loving husband!

Due to the dose-dense version that I am receiving, treatment takes a bit longer on my chemo days, so we didn't head home until 3:30, and we didn't get home until 6:30pm. Brad's parents helped us get the kids to bed, and we crashed, exhausted from our long day.

My mom had a hernia repair the previous week, so she was still healing and not able to come out and help with the kids, so Gene and Mary ended up coming over each day to help. On Thursday, I thought it was much appreciated (Gene and I were able to bring the kids to a reptiles and amphibians show at the school, I was able to get my Neulasta shot kid-free, and I picked up a prescription) but not really necessary as I was feeling slightly achy, but okay. By Friday, the full extent of the side-affects had hit, and I was so very thankful that Gene and Mary came over. It hit me much harder than I anticipated. The bad news was that the muscle pain, headache, feet and hand pain and digestive issues made it pretty impossible to sleep. The good news was that I was back to feeling myself by Monday, and I now get 1 1/2 weeks to feel "normal." I'll definitely take what I can get!

The Future:
Looks Beautiful!