Chemo Round #5

Yesterday was round #5 of chemotherapy.  I had three rounds of Adriamyacin/Cytoxan, and now two rounds of Taxotere/Perjeta/Herceptin.  Two rounds left!!  

My tumors have been aching like crazy for several weeks.  Yesterday, I looked for them and couldn't find a single one. They seem to have all shrunken to the point of being too small to feel.

I tried something new this time around with chemo....fasting.  There have been some studies showing how fasting before and after chemo can increase the effectiveness.  I've read all of them.  Scientists have been very successful in rodents and with some volunteers.  They are currently conducting clinical trials that will be finished by 2015.  The premise is that when your body is fasting, the normal cells shut down and go into starvation mode. In turn, they are supposedly not susceptible to the toxic chemotherapy, thus reducing side effects on the body.

With fasting, cancer cells remain active, searching for more glucose so they can grow.  They become stressed with the fast, and then further stressed with the chemotherapy drugs.  That causes more cancer cells to die, and to die faster.

The suggested fasting time is 48-60 hours before chemo and at least 24 hours after.  I did my research a little late, but I was able to eat light the day before chemo, then started my fast at around 7pm Thursday evening, giving me 16 hours before chemo.  I was able to wait another 26 hours after before finally eating some plain chicken and rice.  We'll see how it goes....

My friend Sharon helping me out during chemo

 

My friend Deana likes to dress me up and embarrass me after chemo