What’s in a Tumor?

Have you ever wondered what’s in a tumor? Well, I found two videos that could really help explain that. The first one is from a reputable resource, The National Breast Cancer Foundation. See below.

The second one is from D-News with Julia Wilde where she breaks down tumors in “plain English” as I like to say. Please feel free to click and take a look.

Well, now that we’ve cleared that up, we can understand why the drugs that are given are so toxic. Now let’s take a look at some of the side-effects I experienced, shall we? Not everyone will experience these. Remember, this is my breast cancer journey. There’s a laundry list of symptoms that most patients experience. These are just mine.

It started with hair loss. But that’s a topic for our next post. For now, let’s focus on the other ones.

There was fatigue. I mean, extreme tiredness. I mean, I-can’t-get-up-and-do-anything-I’ve-been-asleep-for-twelve-hours-straight kind of tiredness. I wanted my bed to engulf me. It didn’t feel so bad the day of treatment. But definitely by day two and three post-chemo, I couldn’t hold my head upright.

Then came horrible nausea and vomiting. The drugs cause you to throw up, so every moment you are bent over in a bucket pouring your guts out. And I mean that, literally.

I had decreased appetite only because I was so scared that whatever I ate would come right out. I avoided strong flavors and spicy food. That didn’t help much. I had to sleep with a bucket near my bed, just in case, I couldn’t make it to the bathroom in time. Luckily, I was placed on a drug called Ondansetron to help me cope. Ondansetron came with its own side effects: constipation! So now I got put on Miralax. Use another drug to treat the side effect of a drug that is treating the side effect of another.

Random thought by the way, but have you ever wondered:

In addition, do you know what it means to barely be able to eat and yet have to gain an extreme amount of weight? Here’s the thing; most women are generally sensitive about their weight. But in my case, it wasn’t even from indulgence. It was from my medications.

After the doctors informed me that my breast cancer receptors were positive for Estrogen and Progesterone, they had to shut these hormones in my body down in order to starve the tumors and kill them. In doing so, they put my body in a state of medical menopause. I say medical because technically, you only go through menopause when you are not in your childbearing years anymore, which is somewhere around fifty to fifty-five, I reckon. However, here I was just turning thirty-six, and nothing prepared me for it.

I would get an injection known as Zoladex where my ovaries were located. This was usually in between the chemo infusions. This injection would prevent me from getting a period. It was administered in my abdomen via a long and huge needle and it was very painful.

I gained some weight from the medication, and according to my doctor, until treatment was over, it would be that way. And with no energy to even exercise, I felt my hands tied. I don’t know if you’re a fan of the show Family Guy, but I would just get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, like Brian Griffin…

Apparently, as treatment progresses, I’ll lose it again. Not only did I notice the weight gain, but the pesky hot-flashes rolled around and pulled up in my driveway. And it didn’t seem like they had plans of leaving anytime soon. I found myself constantly sweating, and wanting to stick my head in the freezer.

Sometimes that didn’t work and I would have to use a fan…

Well, quite honestly, just about anything that would help!

Enough about the hot flashes. Let’s move on.
The mood swings appeared. They weren’t too bad actually. Most times other than the occasional fatigue, I was in good spirits. That’s just my personality. But these mood swings, well, they got the best of me at times. Sometimes I would be really happy, and the very next minute, I was frustrated and could not explain why. My doctor had to emphasize to me not to be hard on myself as these are symptoms typical of the drugs they have me on. I prayed to God for patience. At this point, I didn’t have to worry about a period, but I had to worry about everything else!

Then came the extreme bone pain. So in addition to the Zoladex above to shut down my ovaries, I had to take another shot of a drug called Udenyca. This drug helps rev up your body’s immune system by increasing your White Blood Cell Count. After chemotherapy, your body’s immune system is compromised by all the drugs they give you to fight off the tumors. In order to prevent the patient from being susceptible to infection, they give you Neulasta in order to increase your White Blood Cells to counteract the effect of the chemo so that you don’t get sick. Basically, anything you are exposed to can compromise your health.

The bone pain arises because your white blood cells are made in your bone marrow. When cell production is increased in excess of normal levels, this can cause severe pain and arthritis in the legs. It feels almost like Sciatica -if you’ve ever had it, you know what I mean. You have to take constant amounts of Tylenol and Aleve on rotation to help you cope. I found out the hard way. I got up to walk to the bathroom and fell on the ground. And no, I dusted the dirt off my shoulders and did not cry. I just lay there. Lol! Fear not, my cousin helped me up.

After I was administered the chemotherapy drug Adriamycin, I noticed that for the first two days, every liquid from my body had an orange tinge. As in, from my urine to my sweat. It was the color of the drug as it filtered through my body. Remember that the red devil is a bright red color. By the time it goes through your body on its way out, it’s orange and so is every fluid you secrete until all of it is out. But this isn’t the bad part.

The bad part was I started having shortness of breath and chest pain. The chest pain was not too intense, but it was definitely noticeable and uncomfortable. And these are just a few of the more serious side effects of Adriamycin. It affects your heart, hence the reason why you get an echocardiogram before administration of the drug. The doctors want to make sure your heart can withstand it.

Chemo affected not only my hair but my nails and my skin. In other words, all the rapidly dividing cells in your body. Mouth sores and all. Then the Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan as it is commonly known) added the bloody tinge to my urine. Prior to chemo, each patient is given a ton of saline to help dilute the nasty side effects of the drugs and to diminish the toxicity. But people’s bodies react differently and some experience certain side effects. Others don’t.

The steroids that I was placed on, that is the Dexamethasone, caused extreme darkening of the skin. So my nails are turning black. My skin is turning black. My knuckles are turning black. My FACE is turning black. But at least I’m getting healed… (Thank you, Jesus!)

Can I tell you something? There are so many other symptoms in between. I discovered them as time went on and as my body got hit with more of the drugs. What happened to tolerance? But my doctor promised me after I was off Adria and Cytoxan, and started Taxol, things would get better. Yes, they’re treating me with three different chemo drugs. But daily, I take a total of eleven! That number does not include the Zoladex and Udenyca injections which I go to the hospital to take.

And let’s just be clear, the above symptoms, are actually considered mild, for the average chemo patient!

Wish me luck!
To read my next post where I tell you all about my amazing hair loss, click here.

Not sure at what point of my journey you’re on? Be sure to check out The Contents Page.