So far so good!

I know, I know. Inquiring minds want to know how I'm doing.

Well, I've made it through my first day on the two drugs Xeloda and Tykerb. For those of you reading my blog, you all know I was pretty nervous and anxious about taking those pills. And, while most people can tolerate them fairly well, some people can have some adverse reactions. With that in mind, I asked my folks to come over and hang out at my place this morning, after I took the first doses. I had my son this week-end and didn't want him to end up by himself in case I passed out or got very sick or whatever. They graciously came over and then I took them out to lunch. Then, it was off to my sister's to hang out so that Eddie could play with his cousins and my sister and I went shopping. I decided to hang out with Rena for the rest of the afternoon because she lives in Albany and some friends of mine who live there asked me out to dinner. Eddie's dad, Tim, lives about a block from Rena, so that made it easy for Tim to pick him up for the evening.

What am I feeling? Well, first of all, I'm pretty tired. I've had several nights of not-enough sleep, due partly to the cold, partly to the hot flashes/insomnia caused from the Zoladex (which is shutting down my ovary production), and partly due to anxiety over having to take these drugs. I also felt somewhat lightheaded and queasy today. I've been feeling generally light-headed, though, since Friday when I took Hwy. 34 back from the coast and got carsick. The queasiness may be due to the two drugs, but I seem to be successful so far in it not getting worse by making sure I always have food in my belly.

I'm not sure how long it might be for other symptoms to kick in. I guess I'll find out! I have been in touch with one woman, Liz Kreger (www.lizkreger.com), who has been great about sharing her experiences with me. She's been on Xeloda and Tykerb for about a year now, after having breast cancer metastasize to her bones and, at one point, to her lungs and even her liver. She started on this combination after the second time it ended up on her liver and she says that her latest scans show no trace of cancer anywhere and also her other numbers are low. Liz says that she has some fatigue and did have a bad case of hand and foot syndrome, but after decreasing her dose, it's manageable. Jeanne, at www.assertivepatient.com, said that Tykerb initially gave her diarrhea, but now her body seems used to it and her only symptom is fatigue and sometimes a tender heel.

Now, it's time for thank yous. First, to Liz, Jeanne, and Ellen (who wrote to me about her experiences with radiation and tissue expanders), for being willing to share their experiences so that I have some idea of what to expect. Also, I want to thank my folks and my sister and her family for hanging with me today and watching me to make sure I did okay. Thanks to Scott, too, for checking up on me throughout the day. And, finally, thanks to Heather and Kevin Kenagy, for inviting me out to dinner, and to Josh, Amy and Jackson Searles for joining us and for Josh and Heather to fight over who was paying my dinner! I think we'll all have to go out again so whoever lost can pay! hee hee. Bet you all didn't think I could figure out a way to get more dinners out of this thing! Ha!