My Chemo Journey - Start to End

My Chemo Journey - Start to End

29 Sep 2021 - I had my first chemo therapy session with the most powerful chemo drug ever invented. Nicknamed the 'red devil', the doxorubicin (Adriamycin) or AC drug was infused into my blood stream through a port surgically installed on my right chest. Thanks to my port, I do not have to endure having a needle inserted into my frail veins each time I had to do a chemo infusion. 

I had 4 sessions of this AC drug and I still shudder when I think about it.

My Port-de-Cath

 The drug caused bad nausea side effects on the first 2 sessions. This drug causes the mouth to develop mouth sores and the nurses gave me ice cubes to suck on during the 15 mins the horrible drug was infused. Till now, i still get the horrible feeling of wanting to vomit when I pop a ice cube in my mouth. Lucky for me, around the 3rd session, I realized that nausea feelings are not so bad if my stomach is not feeling empty. Especially if I eat eggs and feel full, then I won't feel like puking. So I started to eat more. But eating more made me feel bloated at night. Think they call it chemo belly. The nurses told me that I can take the stomach protection drug - Pariet 20mg (rabeparazole sodium) already given to me to help with this.  I did and didn't have to suffer so much. I had 4 bi-weekly sessions of the red devil drug. By the 4th time, I think my body has had enough of it. I think i will literally die from more sessions of this chemo when my healthy cells get killed. 

Actually by the 3rd session of the AC, my oncologist told me that she couldn't feel any more of the 5cm tumor nor the lumps on my lymph nodes in my armpits anymore. She said that I am one of the few people who responded very well to the treatment. Throughout my 16 sessions of treatment, she kept saying this. But in my mind, I kept thinking that maybe I didn't have cancer in the first place. Maybe that hard lump on my left breast is just a breast feeding lump. I was still breast feeding my 3 year old when I discovered that lump. After a biopsy and PET CT scans, the doctors diagnosed me with stage 3 ER positive breast cancer. Non BRCA mutation and I have no idea where this cancer came from. I am not overweight and exercise regularly. Do not smoke and have no underlying health conditions. Not even diabetes or high blood pressure. I kept thinking that the doctors made some kind of mistake.

25 Feb 2022-my last chemo treatment

But I want to live some more. I have 3 kids that I still want to play with and take care of. I want to see what wonderful adults they grow up to be. I can't let the cancer kill me and I can't let the chemo drugs kill me too. In fact, after the 4th AC session, I developed high fever (40 degrees celcius) and had to stay in the hospital for 5 days. Although feeling well and alert, the constant high temperature worried the doctors. After many tests, the doctors couldn't figured out what was causing the fever. Other than the fever and a slight cough, I am feeling  quite well. I was feeling very bored being alone in the 1 bedded hospital suite so the doctors discharged me and my fever subsided after I went home. The doctors eventually concluded that I had pneumonia after seeing the 'shadows' on my chest x-rays disappear the week after. They thought that it was Tuberculosis.

I soldier on during my chemo days by keeping myself busy with the insurance claims. Some days I self delude myself that I am getting a 'cell regeneration' spa treatment every time I go for chemo. I did all I can do to keep my spirits up.

I had to go for 12 weekly sessions of a milder Taxel chemo (
Paclitaxel) after the 4 sessions of red devil. That started on 8 Dec 2021 and ended recently on 25 Mar 2022. I made it alive. Although milder with no symptoms of nausea, this drug caused numbness on my shoulders. By the 11th and 12th session, I am also starting to feel that this mild drug might kill me too. Its like running a marathon and at the end of the marathon, your body just have no more strength and wants to just collapse.

On 25 Feb 2022, I went for the last Chemo treatment I will ever have in my life. Thank you, chemotherapy for clearing all the cancer cells out of my body, With the pollution in this world and contaminants ingested daily thought out my 45 years on this planet, a chemo cleansing was needed to realign my hard working cells. My body have learnt how to kill all cancer cells. After the 12 extra "kiasu" Taxel treatments, there are absolutely no more cancer cells in my body. I am very sure that my new cell enhancement will buy me another 55 years on Earth.  

So I ring the bell for a job well done by my brand new cells and to close this chapter of my life. Hello good health and a brand new body upgrade.

A big thank you to the hardworking nurses. They are the kindest and most capable people I have ever met. If not for my fear of needles, I might be tempted to join their profession.