Quite a bit has happened since we last chatted. Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I have been feeling pretty good lately (well, good for a cancer patient ;), and still pretty tired (it doesn't take much to get me pooped out) - it's pretty pathetic actually.
SO, update: My oncologist (well, more like my NP - as I speak with her on a pretty regular basis, especially since my body didn't seem to be tolerating the latest round of chemo (dose-dense Taxol) very well, she decided to cut my dose for Taxol (so I am getting more treatments with a less concentrated dose). Instead of going every other week for 4 treatments total, I was now going to have chemo EVERY week for 9 additional treatments (since I already had one of the full dose treatments, I only needed 9 additional treatments (I would have been getting 12 treatments total of Taxol if I had started at the beginning with the smaller dosage). I believe the main side effect that my NP was worried about was the peripheral neuropathy (numbness/tingling in my fingertips). I knew that that particular side effect was possible, but the neuropathy (if it presents its self) usually doesn't pop up until a few of the treatments are under my belt. Since it happened so soon after my first treatment that was concerning (and they felt that it was probably only going to get worse if they continued with the full dose). I had a great deal of pain after that first full dose (if you read my previous blog entry I talk about it). There is a chance that my neuropathy could be permanent, only time will tell.
In case you're wondering why I titled this blog entry the way that I did, I figured I'd explain. I got to thinking about Mo... I've decided that he gets a bad wrap. It's the cancer that's the bad guy, Mo is there to kill the cancer. He's the GOOD guy. I have to keep reminding myself of that.
(I am picturing Mo as a great big guy, pulling up to my house on a motorcycle, covered in tattoos, asking my Dad to take 16 year old me out on a date - and I have to defend him. "But DAAAAAAAAD, he's really a good guy!")
In Mo's defense, he has been much more gentleman-like these last couple of treatments (since the dosage has been cut), so I'd say that my NP/oncologist made the right decision (even though I am still bummed that I have to have chemo EVERY week, and will have to go for treatments a least a month longer that I had originally intended). I'll take that, over lots of pain, and additional (and perhaps permanent) peripheral neuropathy.
I can't remember if I mentioned another nifty little side effect of chemo (irony at its finest - Ha!):
CHEMO BRAIN. Yes, this is a real thing. Some times, I feel like I am losing my mind. I am more forgetful, for sure. Things just seem a bit foggy, and I have to concentrate much harder to do ordinary things these days. I usually consider myself a pretty "with it" chick. Not so much since chemo. I can see how people who have done a lot of drugs in their lives must feel. I'm like an aging rock star, who can't remember the lyrics to their most popular songs. (Mo is really a good guy, Mo is really a good guy, Mo is really a good guy!).
