Itchy F***ing Monday

For having avoided the Saturday Whammies this week, it appears that today, Monday, is the day I get smacked upside my head.  Heading out the door at 11:00am to meet a friend to walk, I was overcome with itching.  Everywhere.  Like my body was on fire.  I'm not going to sugarcoat it; this was the worst day.  After 30 minutes of crying, itching and, at points, screaming, I placed a call to the oncologist, who recommended taking Benadryl immediately, once I got a callback at 12:00 noon.  My entire lower body and hands were engulfed in itching, from the inside out.  No rash, nothing visible on my skin. After the Benadryl took hold around 12:20pm, I finally broke through, climbed into bed and dropped off to sleep.  I had this once before, on November 3rd, which was an awful bout too.

Woke at 2:40pm when I received a call from the oncologist's office; seems that this is very unusual (of course it is).  After a conference between the oncologist, her PA and the oncology pharmacist, they decided that it MIGHT be due to the reduction of steroid, dexamethasone, in my pre-infusion drug cocktail.  The reduction happened for infusion 4 on October 30th.  This MIGHT be a delayed allergic reaction to my chemo drug, Taxol.  We had reduced the steroid to try to combat the chemo acne; did this let a rare side effect through?

Whatever it is, it brought me to my knees in absolute agony.  The plan is to increase the steroid for this week's infusion and see what happens.  This is the first trick we will try - they have others up their sleeves.  Honestly, I'd take nausea over this any day.  I'm still groggy from the Benadryl but got a shorter walk in. Will probably head to bed soon.  Hope tomorrow is a better day. xo J

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