Yesterday I had my pre-chemo appointment with my Medical Oncologist…and there was lots of good news! I’ll start with the best news. He did a physical examination and discovered that the primary tumour (the one in my breast) is now so small that he wasn’t even able to measure it. This is Awesome!

I was also given the go-ahead to resume taking the train in to work. This is great, as the hour+ commute each way has been a big drain on my energy levels. There may be some days where driving is still the best option for me, but it is a huge relief to know that when I’m feeling well, I can just hop on a train and let someone else do the driving.

The other good news is that I was given a much better idea of what to expect as far as side effects are concerned with the chemo treatments that I will be receiving over the next two days. While nausea is a possibility, there is a much lower chance of feeling nauseous from these drugs, which I’m viewing as a positive! That said, these drugs will really take a toll on my energy levels, so by Sunday I will likely feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. Which is fine. I’ll take that over nausea any day!

Another likely side effect is muscle pain, so I’ve been given a healthy prescription of Tylenol 3. I’m allowed to take two of these every four hours, if need be. And if the T3’s don’t prove to be effective, then I will be given a prescription for Percocet. So it looks like I will be getting my wish of sleeping my way through the long weekend!

The other side effect that was discussed is that I may experience tingling or numbness in my fingers and toes, and possibly in my hands and feet as well. In order to try and mitigate this side effect, my hands and feet will be literally on ice as I’m receiving Friday’s treatment. This is also to try and prevent the loss of finger and toe nails…just the NAILS…not the actual digits. But still…fun, fun, fun!

In any case, I’m feeling much better about the rest of the week. While there is still a little bit of the fear of the unknown happening, it is reassuring to have a better sense of what I might experience. Couple this with the knowledge that the chemo so far has been really effective, and it gives me a much brighter outlook 🙂