Eyebrows are back

I'm entering Week 3 of Cycle 2 of Enhertu. Chemo cycles are three weeks long, so it's been two weeks since I got my second Enhertu infusion. 

I was hopeful that the side effects would have lessened as my body got used to the new drug, but sadly no, it was the same old shit.

The nice thing is that my eyebrows and eyelashes have grown back in the last week. What the heck does that even mean? Idk, but it's nice to save 2 minutes of using Brow Wiz in the morning. 

Everything else is not so nice. I had major indigestion and/or diarrhoea daily since Day 5 of this cycle, up to and including today. This makes me not feel like eating because the bloated feeling is painful and nauseating. 

From Days 5 to 8, I was eating nothing for like 8 hours without feeling hungry. But not eating just makes it worse cos there'll be nothing to digest. So I've been forcing myself to eat half-meals, with nothing spicy because spicy food needles my throat. 

It's been lots of Greek yoghurt with granola, Swensen's fish and chips, plain rice with a sausage or two.. Basically picky kid food. Oh, and cereal drinks in the morning. Is that old people food? It's comforting, though. 

I had to bail in the middle of two ballet classes in the last week. I'm not sure if it's due to lack of nutrition/electrolytes? Plus my asthma is back, so my inhaler has to come to the rescue. It's so frustrating to be hindered by poor health when I'm not even 40. I feel it's unfair. 

But I know, someone always has it worse. So why dwell on it, right? On the bright side, maybe I'll lose weight from this unwanted diet. Then I can finally fit into my gingham cheongsam, three sizes too small, that I've been sentimentally hoarding since 2018. 

I should just get a new one tailored, pandai.

I'm feeling better today now that we're in Week 3, so I'm trying to make the most of it! 

These days, cancer-wise, I'm getting increasingly irritated by people who say things like, "When your chemo is over" or worse, "You not going holiday?"

It's Stage IV cancer. Which has spread to the bones. BONES. It's basically a chronic disease so there is no guarantee my chemo will be over. 

I can't go for a holiday with these unpredictable bouts of bloating and diarrhoea. It's gonna be so unpleasant in the plane/coach/car/train! And if these side effects ease sufficiently for me to make any plans, best believe I will get a town crier to announce it for me. Please, don't ask me such questions. (Idk, maybe other chemo patients are happy to answer them.)

Ask me how my dancing is going. I think it's going great! Considering I'm such a Lembek Lass (weak girl) nowadays. My turns are getting better, my ballet combinations memory getting springier, my head is moving less stiffly. I love ballet so much, and although I pole much less now, I didn't die in Estefania's class last Sunday!

Always Alhamdulillah for the ability to keep dancing through this. 

Armpit hair is back

The family wedding on Saturday 1 Nov went pretty okay. We got to the hotel ballroom at 10am, I socialised, ate, but was gassing out by 1pm so we just cabut and I had a nice nap till 5pm. I love napping!

Wedding 'fit pic

Because my Aus-based BIL was in town that period, we still had a family dinner the next day. Somehow I managed to go for ballet in the early afternoon, get Waterloo Coffee, and still get home and to the dinner place in time. I continued eating half-portions of food. Enhertu plus my acne med (Doxycycline) really messes up my digestion. 

The second week of Enhertu recovery was actually supposed to be fine, but my period came back wtf! And it wasn't all neat and clotty like it's been for the past 10 years either. It was super heavy flow, pushing all my mini-tampons out within two hours of use and necessitating a change of my period underwear twice a day. Luckily I was already on some random leave from work on Monday and Tuesday, so I spent Monday loafing around in a pool of my own blood, then dragged myself out on Tuesday morning for pp and coffee then back home to tido.

The rest of Week 2 went well and almost normal, except having to halve my meals and girl dinner everything. I've been having a lot of my Nestum instant cereal and Rockit apples.

Cutes and I saw my oncologist Dr Beh on Wednesday 12 Nov, where she admitted they'd forgotten to book my Enhertu infusion for Cycle 2, so they'd squeezed me in that same Friday. Wow, thanks eh. The fierce nurse from last time did ask, "Are you okay? I can try to shift it to today if you want." But I didn't want to risk waiting forever like I did in Cycle 1, so I said I'd carry on with Friday. We went to Warung M Nasir at Beo Crescent for lunch, then I went home and napped. 

Story of my life. I did some work too, don't worry.

Wed onco pic: Weakforbatik top I squeezed into and my Adidas jeans from CDMX which I had the waist taken in.

My Friday infusion appointment was at 10am, no need to do blood test as they went off my Wednesday one, but I had to arrive at 9am for some reason. The registration counter called me up within 10 minutes, so that was nice. I was at Suite A, so I went to the Suite A/B waiting area which was half empty. Suite A hadn't even opened yet while Suite B was firing the numbers away. There were two ladies chattering away in English and Arabic, which was quite fun to listen in on, until two more people joined them and made me wonder if they were gonna take up the whole waiting area.

Meanwhile, one uncle received a phone call from his wife on speaker. She was telling him to please get her a kopi si - "But kopi si got sugar, I thought you cannot take sugar?" - "No, I want kopi si. And kaya toast but no half boiled egg." 

Uncle: "But the kaya toast and egg is one set. I'll just eat the eggs lah. Why don't you come down with me then we can eat together?"

Auntie: "But I cannot be in crowded places."

Uncle: "Just wear your mask. Okay I see you downstairs."

Okay I know it's boring and mundane but it was entertaining for me at 9.30am k.

They called me in at 10.05am. Everything went swimmingly. Except when the nurse injected the syringe of anti-nausea meds, I felt an immediate sakit perut. That was a signal the bloating was starting UGH. But I powered through it cos I stronkkk. Infusion went much faster because they increased the speed for this Cycle onwards. The nurse told me we were doing 460mg compared to 470mg in Cycle 1. Because I'd complained to Dr Beh about the extreme fatigue, so this was the reduced dose?! Lol.

Arlene the nurse with a delightful British accent did my de-cannulation, and I took the bus home and promptly had another lovely nap. 

Fri infusion OOTD: Uniqlo skirt, Adidas black top, and Big W shirt. I miss you, Australia.

I've been okay. We're only at Day 3 now and the shittiness kicked in on Day 4 yesterday so good luck to me. Digestion has been sucky. I've had to sit upright in bed for 2 hours or so before the discomfort starts to abate. Hate it but what can ya do?

Aside from my heavy period which is back, so is my armpit hair! Wtf. I mean, my head hair has ceased shedding like a husky too but stay away, armpit hair! Dr Beh says the hormones are prolly out of whack due to the two-week break I took after my hospitalisation, and we should be back to no hair and no period when it stabilises. We're looking at a total of four to six cycles of Enhertu. 

Ballet and pole and friends and books keep me happy to be alive. Oh, I had Waterloo Coffee again yesterday and I've concluded it's just not worth it. $10 for 330ml and you still need to wait for some time, no in-house seating area, etc. I'm better off paying $7 for Ayie's iced mocha at pull.in with nice comfy seats and friendly convo. 

Sat at Cypher Pole Studio with my Tox babes