I can hardly believe it…but I’m almost done with Herceptin treatments.  17 months of chemotherapy:  while the last few months have been a piece of cake compared to the early treatments I wouldn’t wish chemo on my worst enemy.  Chemo, quite frankly, sucks.  It changes one’s body in unimaginable ways.  And I didn’t even have the worst side effects – for example, I never had taste changes or mouth sores.  I still lost 15 pounds, but it wasn’t because I couldn’t eat.  I could eat, I just couldn’t keep anything down.

A few weeks ago I had an odd pain on the side of my right breast. Fortunately I had an appointment with Dr. P the next day and I told her about it. She did an exam, and ruled out lymphedema. She poked around my shoulder and thought I might be getting bursitis. She suggested that I see my PCP. The next day during my infusion the chemo nurses asked if I had any pain (they ask every time) and I told them about the discussion I’d had with Dr. P. They suggested that I try acupuncture. I said sure, and remarkably, it’s covered by insurance! Last Friday I had my first session. It’s a bit odd, I don’t mind saying. To look over and see needles sticking out of my shoulder, arm and hand…I don’t know if it was all in my mind, but it felt like my shoulder was cooling down. I have 5 more sessions scheduled; the pain in my breast has pretty much disappeared but I still have some pain in my shoulder, so I’m hoping the additional sessions will help.

Otherwise nothing much else has changed. I still have neuropathy in my feet (wrinkled socks!); I have diarrhea at least 3-4 times a week despite the fact that I take 2 Imodium every night. And I still have muscle aches and headaches. My magnesium level today was 1.7 – tantalizingly close to the 1.8 “normal” amount. I guess I’ll still get magnesium on Friday along with Herceptin, but what else is new?