Herceptin infusion number eleven was this past Friday and by Sunday I was having side effects. I started feeling a general weakness by Noon and a short time later I began to feel muscle weakness and pain in my right thigh. Within a couple of hours my left thigh felt the same and my arms felt heavy and weak so I took ibuprofen and spent the rest of the day in bed.
I experienced a little bit of a Déja Vu feeling; the all-over weakness reminded me of how I felt sometimes when I was on chemo. Fortunately by Monday I was only experiencing slight pain in the right thigh and knees.
I’ve read bulletin postings on www.breastcancer.org and www.her2support.org the side effects I experienced have also been experienced by others. There is comfort in knowing that I am not imagining these symptoms but even greater comfort on knowing how effective Herceptin has been for so many women. I love this part of the welcome message on the her2support.org site: When this website was launched on December 24 2001, the breast cancer patient who was HER2 positive was pitied and the only thing that their oncologist told them was “your cancer is aggressive and your prognosis is poor.” Recent advances in treatment has reversed this outlook and now we live longer and enjoy a much better quality of life than ever before.
I am grateful for the internet – I have been able to research everything related to breast cancer, my treatment, and nutrition. And of course, it is the internet that has provided me this opportunity to have a blog and email. I also use the internet frequently for a dose of inspiration and happy, positive thoughts. Here are some of the web sites that I frequent:
http://www.darynkagan.com
http://www.motivatingquotes.com
http://hubblesite.org
http://www.thehappyguy.com
Oh, how could I forget…the internet is a great way to find a recipe and menu ideas! My favorite website is http://www.foodnetwork.com.
Thank you for checking in on me, I hope that each of you are well and fully enjoying each day that you have. I will leave you tonight by sharing one more website with you, it is for kids but this big kid is a fan of Shel Silverstein and since laughing is healthy for us I recommend this site to you also: http://www.shelsilverstein.com
1 comment:
Some day, you and I will be at support group saying, "I am a 20 year survivor" we will LIVE longer than that, but who's to say we'll still go to group :-)
So proud of you! Donna
Post a Comment