Today is treatment 90. I had an echocardiogram this morning. I receive them regularly because one of my infusion drugs, Herceptin, is know to cause heart damage.
There was a significant gap in scheduling between the scan and going to the cancer center so we opted to wait in the car with the windows rolled down. It’s truly a gorgeous day here in St Louis.
I am experiencing a “new acronym” now – HSF. Cleveland Clinic describes it this way: “Hand-foot syndrome (HFS), or palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, is a common side effect of some types of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a common cancer treatment. HFS is a skin reaction that you may experience as redness or swelling on the palms of your hands or the soles of your feet.”
Looking back, this has been coming on for a few weeks, but it made its presence known with a bang on Monday of this week. The palms of my hands and the soles of my feet (along with the toes) are bright red as if they have been burned, and they feel like they have been burned, too. My fingers are swollen, especially the pads. If anything merely brushes by my toes, I am in excruciating pain. Daily living activities have been extremely difficult the last few days. I am wearing thick socks and slathering my feet and toes with unscented moisturizer. Every step down is bad.
My oncologist told me to take a week off the capecitabine. When I start again, it will be at a lower dosage. She already lowered it due to the awful digestive issues so now we are stepping down another notch. It has to happen because I cannot function will the HFS this bad. Hopefully it will lessen enough for me to get used to this new normal.
I am tired of new normals.
I’m also scared of lowering the dosage so much that my breast cancer will form another brain tumor.
I am tired of brain tumors.
I am tired of metastatic breast cancer.
I am not in control. 
May you find a peace and joy in this moment. I know it sounds hard to do but you give me hope! Your family is so supportive and filled with love for you. The church family also loves and cares about you. Keep us posted. We keep praying! love you!
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I’m so sorry to hear you’re dealing with hand-foot syndrome. It sounds painful.
I’m on Enhertu but will likely have to go off sometime in the next few months as the lesions in my brain are trending up—more and getting bigger—but they still fall within what they call “the margin of error” so we’re sticking with Enhertu for now as it’s been working well for bone and lung lesions. Last year I had the dosage lowered due to huge digestive issues and really worried about it. But it made the quality of life this past year so much better.
It’s all so much. And it’s exhausting. My heart is with you. You’re doing so much to raise awareness for MBC and the issue of density with mammogram screening. I hope you’re able to rest and recover, and take time just for you for a bit ❤️
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