0 Stress, Hot Flashes, Night Sweats … These Side-Effects Suck!!!!

I feel like I could have a stand-in part on Gray’s Anatomy or Private Practice. I have been busy doing research into all hours of the night on cancer and the side-effects of all the drugs that Julie and other cancer patients have to take to kill the monster growing in their bodies. Even though these cancer killing drugs save lives, they also leave behind a trail of nasty side effects.

Julie’s white blood count has been up to 20,000 these past few weeks which alarmed all of us. A normal white blood cell count is 4 to 10,000 – a normal reading indicates the probability that there is no infection or disease. However, a high white blood count can mean many things - inflammatory conditions can elevate one's blood count as can infections or viruses, and it can also mean an evidence of cancer.

But fighting cancer and all the side effects is extremely stressful – so we don’t accept the latter!! Consequently after a ton of researching, we attribute this high white cell blood count to the nasty Neulasta injections she was on when she was having chemo. Neulasta is a white cell booster that is given to patients receiving strong chemotherapy treatments – hence Julie’s elevated counts.

Her blood test results this past week proved our assumptions are probably correct as her white blood count is slowly coming down. And we are all breathing a very huge sigh of relief. She will have blood tests done every week to check this and hopefully validate our assumptions. Remember – we are not doctors – even though we sure feel like it sometimes and know more about this than we ever wanted to know.

The many side affects from cancer fighting chemo drugs and other medications can be debilitating at times. Julie has not been able to escape these either and is currently suffering from early onset of menopause caused by all the drugs she has had to endure. Although she tolerated the chemo pretty well, these side affects can be nasty, stressful and frustrating. I was lucky enough to go through menopause naturally. It wasn’t that long ago so I can relate to what she is going through and give her advice of how to handle all of this. She has started on Gabapentin to help the horrendous night sweats and hot flashes. Hopefully they will kick in soon and help so that she will be able to get good nights sleep for a change.

With a bit of luck she will get a handle on all these side-effects before starting the next new drug – Zometa. She will start her monthly infusion treatments at the end of the month. This drug is a bone-building drug that is given to breast cancer patients to help rebuild their bones that the chemo drugs may have damaged. This treatment, along with an anti-estrogen drug called Tamoxifen, is often prescribed to women after breast cancer treatment.

So in a nutshell, the chemo caused the menopause; the Tamoxifen will prevent the cancer from returning; the Gabapentin will help the menopause symptoms; and the Zometa will help rebuild all the damage so Julie can get on with life. Thus now that you know more about cancer side-effects than you ever wanted to know, I am off to bed and plan to do some other good things tomorrow.

Until later, many blessings to you, Jan