Accomplished.

It’s been about a month since my last update, and a lot has happened since then. Here are a few updates, which, in an effort to re-frame my personal productivity, I’m calling my accomplishments.

Accomplishment #1: I started a girlmeetscancer instagram!

I’ve started documenting my chemo journey via instagram. I’m treating it like a mini-blog of sorts, with photos from my infusions, some chemo experiences, and insights I hope can help others. I’ve followed accounts with a similar focus in the past and they’ve been really helpful in making me feel less alone. Already, it’s put me in touch with so many other patients and has served as a great resource.

Accomplishment #2: I survived my first infusion of Doxil!

The days leading up to the first infusion were worse than the infusion itself. I was an anxious mess: tossing and turning at night, jolting awake multiple times in the middle of the night, constant racing heart and sweaty palms, the whole deal. I was itching to go ahead and get it over with.

I started my Infusion Day with bloodwork followed by an appointment with the nurse practitioner with the Sarcoma Program. She went over possible side effects with me, took my height and weight (update: I’m still 5’2″) and then sent me upstairs to wait for an infusion chair. After waiting for a while, I got a primo spot for the infusion: a corner location with the sun shining through the window.

The nurse came over and gave me a round of three pills: an anti-nausea, a steroid, and (per the nurse practitioner’s suggestion, and my welcome approval) an anti-anxiety med. They gave those about 20-30 minutes to enter my system before finding a vein for my IV. Unfortunately, an abundance of scar tissue has formed around the veins at my elbow crease, and I’m a “tough stick.” After hemming and hawing and consulting a few different nurses, they went with a vein just below my left wrist: a super awkward and slightly painful spot, but if it keeps me from having a port, I’m all for it.

I’m not going to lie, an anti-anxiety med is a marvel of modern medicine for moments such as this. I felt a bit more ease enter the picture, enough to give me a clear perspective and make me feel almost normal again. To any patients considering it, please don’t hesitate to ask for something like that. It can make an extremely overwhelming situation a bit more tolerable. I wouldn’t have thought to mention I was anxious unless a cancer survivor friend of mine suggested it and the nurse practitioner straight up said to me, “I can see how anxious you are. We can do something about it.” Reminder: it doesn’t make you less strong to ask for help, it makes you human. (If you need me, I’ll be repeating that to myself until it sticks.)

And then, I waited. When the infusion began, I got a super metallic taste in my mouth and a heavy feeling in my chest for a few moments, so they stopped the drip until the weighted feeling past. Once it dissipated, I was back as planned to the drip. I read on my Kindle and spent a lot of time talking to the nurses, who were extremely helpful in giving me an overview of the Infusion Suite and its resources.  It took about 90 minutes for the infusion to finish, and when it was nearly finished, I was hungry for the first time all day. Mom and I ordered food and ate it in the park before driving home. It was a fairly long day – my bloodwork was scheduled at 10:45 and I got home around 4.

In the weeks since, I’ve had a laundry list of side effects: chills, fatigue, no appetite, and body aches in the week following, and since, more fatigue, hives, mouth sores, and a metallic taste in my mouth. The biggest one is the fatigue: I’m unable to get out of bed until 1 PM on most days. Some of my side effects, such as hives and the bad taste in my mouth, are triggered by exercise, so I have a theory that I’m sweating out the poison and chemicals. (I’ll make my thesis title sound much more professional than that.) Being on Doxil hasn’t been easy, but it feels more tolerable than the drugs I was on previously, probably because I’m on disability.

Ah, disability. There are days when I’m feeling really good, and being away from work seems foolish and unnecessary. But then a super lousy day will strike, and the side effects circle back… and I know now, three weeks in, that there’s no way I could be the teacher that I want to be if I went into work five days a week. I miss my students and my coworkers daily, but I’m really fortunate to be able to make my health my full-time job.

I’m due for my next infusion on Monday, and already, I feel more relaxed knowing what to expect.

Accomplishment #3: I went to Denver!

… Wait, what?

Yes! You read that correctly. I went to Denver for an incredible conference called CancerCon.

Here’s how it all went down: remember that instagram account I mentioned? Well, one of the features of Instagram is that it will suggest accounts for you to follow based on “likes” you’ve made, searches you’ve done, and accounts you’ve previously followed. Think of it as low-key algorithm stalking with a purpose. One of the suggested accounts was for an organization called Stupid Cancer, which I’d never heard of before. Stupid Cancer is a group for young adults with cancer, and their instagram account had a post about something called CancerCon 2019 from April 11-14 in Denver. Coincidentally, they invited any new attendees who were not registered to send an email and be in the running for a partial scholarship to attend. I sent an email and made a deal with myself: if I got the scholarship, I’d splurge on the flight. Sure enough, 14 hours later, there was an email congratulating me on my partial scholarship in my inbox. I booked the flight and got my packing list in order so I could leave the following week.

It’s impossible to describe the CancerCon experience without having been there firsthand. It also deserves far more attention and space than I can give it in this overview; I’ll probably return to it for another post later on. So here’s what I want you to know: it felt really, really good to not need to explain myself. I spent four days with other patients and caregivers who also had their lives interrupted by a devastating diagnosis. They were people I had never met, but they were far from strangers: they were the community I’ve been searching for and didn’t know I needed. I won trivia with my team. I placed a respectable third in the scavenger hunt. I listened to people’s stories of pain and struggle and shared my own. I attended breakout sessions and discussions on really meaningful topics. I shared insights, meals, dance moves, tears, and many, many laughs. I made friends who I’ve been texting since the moment I left for the airport. I am overwhelmed with gratitude at having this incredible network of people that I can count on when I need it. If you’re a young adult cancer patient in need of a community, check it out. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

What’s next?

I’m still here, and the weather’s beautiful. I plan on taking lots of walks with Daisy. I’ve been reading a ton of books and expect I’ll do more of that. I’m spending Easter with my family this weekend and I’ve got an infusion coming up on Monday. If the last year has taught me anything, it’s that my expectations will always be challenged in some way, sometimes for the worse, but also for the better. Even if it’s just for today, I’m at peace.