Sassy - Cycle 1 & Biopsy Update
Whew, a lot can happen in three weeks. Cycle 1 of Sassy, aka Trodelvy, is a wrap. It was by far the hardest cycle of chemotherapy I have endured.
Rewind, though. That second lymph node biopsy is still not complete. Meaning we don’t have final HER2 results on this new primary breast cancer. There’s a few tests that have to be done and the labs tried to rush it and not do one of the tests called IHC, and just do the FISH test. But turns out they need those IHC results to interpret the FISH results. Long story short, we hope to have a final answer on if this second primary breast cancer is HER2+ or just HER2 Low. If it is HER2+ then we might pivot from Sassy as a treatment but it will be tricky because that will mean we risk the stability in my bone mets.
Now back to cycle 1 of Sassy (aka Trodelvy). So, one cycle is the two infusions and a week off for a three week total cycle.
This 21 Day Chemo cycle looks like this
Day 1 - Infusion 1
Day 7 - Infusion 2
Day 14 - Off week
Day 21 - End of Cycle
Cycle 1, infusion 1 was rough. Fatigue, nausea, and stomach upset was rough. I have to give myself shots to kick start my body to creating more white blood cells and that was a new situation and pretty daunting. I do 3 each week of infusions. The first two Joe did for me and then I had to get brave and do them myself. These shots create bone pain because they release histamines in the body from the bone marrow to create the white blood cells. Claritin helps but there was still a bit of pain as well.
Cycle 1, infusion 2 was seemingly a little better in the immediate days following. The shots didn’t create a lot of pain. But then about four days later I had intense stomach pains. Drinking even water meant I was doubled over in pain and nothing helped which led to four days in bed with minimal water and no food. That’s a disaster. So I went in on my off week to get fluids, steroids, and anti-nausea meds. I bounced back and was able to enjoy Thanksgiving.
I won’t have scans until January. Which of course, freaks me out quite a bit. But I am staying patient and hopeful that this drug is doing its job.
Around day 14 my hair started shedding and now it’s really coming out in clumps. So for the second time in my life, I’ll shave my head this week. I was hopeful to salvage as much as I could in the hopes if we switch treatments I could at least save some but it’s seeming that’s just not feasible.
Overall it has been a rough few weeks. But we’re get more and more settled in the house and we got our Christmas tree up! I’m staying hopeful.
