herceptin + perjeta 1
I am back! Do I want to? No. Do I get to? Yes! This is my insurance policy to stay NED (no evidence of disease) and honestly, I’m really lucky I get this. I think a lot about what would be different if we knew my tumor cloned to HER2+ earlier. But, I’m dropping that, I can only move forward. And forward means really great targeted drugs.
It has been 66 days since my last treatment (excluding surgery) and I got a little too comfortable without it. I was nowhere near prepared for all that goes in to half a day of infusion. Pack that in with everyone telling me “no side effects,” “it’ll be a breeze,” and I really wasn’t prepared for the sucker punch my first HP infusion kindly gave me.
Backing up, the week was a whirlwind. Thrown back into typical cancer life. On Monday I had physical therapy for cording in my arm from surgery. I was pretty proud to far surpass my PT goals! On Wednesday I got my very first tattoo - at radiation simulation. They align you on a CT scan table, place stickers and then run you through the CT scanner to ensure everything is properly aligned. Then, they place three tiny tattoos so I get proper alignment with each radiation. I learned I will not be getting any other tattoos - they are painful. I was stressed leading up to this but really, it wasn’t that bad. Pretty typical of how things go - I’m stressed, I do it, and then I say it wasn’t that bad.
On Wednesday evening my mom came to town and my niece and nephew came over for dinner. It’s great to distract myself with time with my family before this first infusion of HP. But I wasn’t really too concerned about the treatment. I was a little nervous I could potentially have an allergic reaction but other than that I just thought it would be a day of working from the recliner at the infusion center.
The infusion itself was typical. I was surprised my port was accessed fine after so long without it being used. No premeds (nausea meds or steroids) are needed with this. Since it was my first round they did a “loading dose” meaning it’s more meds and longer infusion. I was in the chair for almost 4 hours total and they didn’t let my mom stay with me. I worked and watched an episode of Selling Sunset.
Suddenly it was like my body was made of mud. I chalked it up to a long week and the let down of emotions of getting through this first infusion. I was starving so my mom and I went to lunch. I ate some but couldn’t fight how tired I was. It felt like I was right back to the red devil and slipped all the way back down the mountain. It was hard even admitting to myself that I was struggling. Work is really busy right now and we have a crisis project so I knew I needed to power through. I sent my mom home and decided to settle in bed to wrap up some projects.
The nausea was overwhelming. I only actually vomited once throughout my entire 22 weeks of chemo. Unfortunately, it’s now twice - and this isn’t even chemo! We have a plan for round 2, though. I’ll have Zofran infused through my port before starting the infusion of Herceptin and Perjeta.
