Fast facts (if you don’t have time to read the full post): Welcome to chemo number six! We are just a mere 10 chemos away from the finish line! That is still 10 weeks but hey, we are almost into single digits! I do have a major correction to make. The new platinum-based chemo I am taking is carboplatin, not cisplatin. I am not sure how I got those confused?!??!? Ooops! Blame it on the che-che-che-che-chemo brain! Name that song reference for a dollar! Today was a good chemo day. I am tired but had a great day.

TO THE LONG VERSION!

“Mikayla is that you?” a nurse asked between the curtains in the blood draw room. “No, my name is Madison,” I responded. “Oh! Madison! Not sure why I called you that but I have a personal question to ask you,” she said.

Oh? Hello mystery nurse who knows me and I don’t know you! What a fucking delight! I feel so loved at the cancer center when this happens. I ended up learning she is nurse Kristen and she saw nurse Rachael with my “Fuck cancer! Enjoy rainbows!” stickers and she wanted some! Um, I AM SO FREAKING FLATTERED KRISTEN. My heart. Seriously. I melted. It is such a good feeling to know that this sticker resonates with so many folks. Anyway, Kristen and I are now friends and that was the best way to kick off chemo number six.

Before chemo, I addressed my weird rash and finger issue with my oncologist. We’ve got a steroid cream on order to help address that issue because both of my chemos are going to fuck my skin up. I also got a referral to the dermatologist so we can monitor this condition and other skin ones that most likely will appear. I appreciate all of the care and attention that my oncologist has to being proactive and responding quickly to issues as they arise. And you know we discussed my ultrasound results! She still felt that the results could have been better given the intensity of the red devil treatment I received and still recommended moving forward with the platinum-based chemo carboplatin. She thinks because I am BRCA1 positive and I have a hormone positive tumor (versus a lot of BRCA1 positive folks have triple negative tumors) we have to go hard and aggressive at all times. No rest for the wicked (tumors). I appreciate this approach. Let’s get rid of this fucking mess. I will be on taxol and carboplatin for the rest of my chemo treatments.

I had some anxiety starting the new chemo. I just worry about having an allergic reaction and the side effects. What if I get super sick during chemo? I know I would be well supported during a dire situation at treatment and I have like five friends there that would hold a barf bag for me and hold my hair back so it doesn’t get in my vomit… oh wait I don’t have hair hahah! They would rub my little bald bitch head and tell me it is okay to puke and I have the most beautiful puke they have ever seen. But honestly I would rather not be sick. The universe heard my manifestation (or my body was like I gotchu girl) and I responded well to the new chemo and didn’t experience anything sketchy. I also was loaded with lots of pre meds including Pepcid and anti-nausea so it was probably that and not the universe. I am still grateful.

My pleasant experience at chemo allowed me to visit all of my favorite nurses, steal all of the lemon Kit Kats that I found in a semi secret jar, and have deep and soul enriching talks with my emotional support human. I walked out of chemo with my glass full. It was the happiest I have felt in a long time, which you probably think is weird to hear but I love going to chemo. I struggle knowing I have only ten weeks of treatment left. I want chemo to end because I want to defeat cancer, but I will go from being in such a beautiful and supportive environment to being alone. That makes me a little sad. I will still have radiation and go into the cancer center to get my hormone blocker for the next five years, so they can’t get rid of me that quickly but it will just be brief visits.

Time for a most excellent photo intermission! Fuck yeah!

Let’s talk carboplatin! If you remember yesterday’s platinum drugs for cancer graphic, it was listed on it but my focus was the other platinum-based chemo drug cisplatin since I could have sworn that is what I read I was receiving in MyChart. Whatever. But my insurance approved it and that is the most important part. Shout out to my insurance for listening to my oncologist!

Carboplatin is classified as an alkylating agent which means this chemo keeps cells from reproducing by damaging their DNA. According to Meso, “Carboplatin is a derivative of cisplatin and was discovered by Dr. Tom Connors and Dr. Ken Harrap of Michigan State University in the 1970s. The pair of scientists were funded by the Institute of Cancer Research to create a new chemotherapy drug that had the same benefits of cisplatin but with fewer side effects.” We love fewer side effects!

Carboplatin and cisplatin are among the most important breakthroughs in cancer chemotherapy and both still play an important part in cancer treatment over fifty years later. I think that is pretty impressive but at the same time I hope we can reach a point someday that chemotherapy is not a bitch that makes you insanely sick and sacrifice yourself to get better. I am grateful for science and chemotherapy is impressive as fuck, but damn.

Speaking of sick, here is a list of side effects with this chemo that are most common: nausea and vomiting, hair loss, taste changes, weakness, and blood test abnormalities. We are definitely on watch for my white blood cell count and I personally am looking for taste changes. I already have parosmia, so what does this mean for me??? We will find out how fucked I am about to be!

Less common side effects that I need to be acutely aware of are peripheral neuropathy (tingling or decreased sensation and numbness of extremities), nephrotoxicity (kidney problems), and hearing loss, among other things. I told my nurse about my thumb nail issues and she confirmed that is neuropathy at play and reported it to my oncologist since I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH MY FUCKING HANDS. *Sigh* We are on watch for neuropathy for sure now.

And that was chemo number six. Vegan chemo and shiny platinum chemo. Yum. Let’s see how fucked I am tomorrow shall we?

Today’s song lyric of the day is brought to you by Rihanna.

“Shine bright like a diamond
Shine bright like a diamond

Find light in the beautiful sea
I choose to be happy
You and I, you and I
We’re like diamonds in the sky”

– Diamonds, Rihanna