Chemotherapy Infusion Delay

For those of you following my breast cancer journey, know that I’ve experienced a chemo side effect of burning hands, feet, and any other areas of my skin that gets pressure or friction from an outside source. It's called hand-foot syndrome.

I won't name all of the other body parts involved... 

I’ve been a total lump this week doing nothing. Hard to walk very much and the exercise bike is out. I even have a problem sitting for very long in certain positions.  The effects are still pretty uncomfortable by the evening. I talked previously about some of the many things I’ve tried to mitigate the effect in a previous post.

I was supposed to get my 10th Taxol infusion this week. However, my Oncologist decided no infusion. I get a 1 week break! Next week he’ll either decrease my chemo dose and/or increase my infusion time from 1 hour to 2 hours or put me right on the 2nd series of infusions. i was concerned as I was scheduled for 12 Pacxilaxtol infusions. 

However, my doctor said not to worry that 12 doses were not empirical. He's had patients only make it through 4 or 5 sessions. Let’s hope my body recovers so I can get back on track next Monday, or I may jump right into the Red Devil (Adriamycin)

No I Don't Have Hoof and Mouth Disease!

The burning and itching sensation on my hands and feet were getting stronger so I did my homework. 

Seems I have Hand and Foot Syndrome or Palmar-Plantar Erythrodysesthesiak. Say that fast three times!

It's a side effect of my chemotherapy. Paclitaxel  is one of the chemo drugs that cause it. Lucky for me my next series of chemo with Anthracycline (Doxorubicin) can also produce this effect; so I can't expect any relief soon.

This site has a pretty good explanation of the syndrome and some suggested ways to relieve the symptoms of Hand-Foot Syndrome

The night after my ninth infusion I couldn't sleep. My whole body burned as the little capillaries under my skin died off. Their screaming must have been keeping me awake. 😱😱😱

 I just ordered a full-length icepack that will unfold like a blanket. Ice packs do at least give me some relief. Since friction aggracvates the symptoms, wearing socks does seem to help. Not what I planned to do in the SC heat, but I have air conditioning so I'm not complaining.

Also my skin hasn't started to blister or peel yet so that's a plus. Hoping to avoid that. I just ordered a while passel of cooling sprays I'm going to try to see if any of those help.  

Ugly Burning Left Foot

Ugly Burning Right Foot

Spoiler alert! I may have to look forward to Hoof and Mouth Disease, actually just potential mouth sores in the next round of chemo. Hey, look at the bright side, some burning, itching, or other gross side effects now. It sure beats doing nothing with the potential for a bad outcome in the future.

Meanwhile, I spoke to someone today who has an unrelated chemo side effect of burning feet. Her doctor told her the sugar she was eating was aggravating her condition (caused by a back issue). 

So, do I give up blueberries on my cereal every day and an occasional sweet to see if it helps or, Nah, who am I kidding, I need my little pleasures right now...

Are Your Hands Burning after Chemotherapy?

I read about different skin irritations that you can get from Chemotherapy.  I have delicate skin so I expected to have run-ins with some skin reactions. With Triple Negative Breast Cancer treatments, I'm expecting all kinds of adverse reactions as the weeks progress. 

After my first infusion, I did feel tingling in my arms and legs that lasted all night long and kept me awake. I found a solution to that by using Cold gloves and cold socks. I keep them in the freezer, and take them in a cooler with me to my infusions. Once the infusion begins, I put them on and I'm good to go. No more tingling-or so I thought.

The new sensation wasn't exactly tingling. It was more like burning and itching. I started to feel it in some spots on my fingers, palm side after the fifth chemo infusion. I mentioned it to my Oncology PA. She said some people reported that sensation on the tips of fingers after typing or the palms of hands if doing something physical. 

It's a sensation that comes and goes. It's more prevalent after I've been fixing a meal, opening a jar, etc. I'm feeling it more often as I do things around the house. I find myself scratching the palms of my hands. The itching and burning aren't intense but are still there. 

You can see from the photos that different areas are irritated based upon what activity I've undertaken. I've had the sensation pop up in my lower back, under my thighs after sitting on the edge of a wooden chair for too long, etc.

                     

I'm going to try to keep the cold gloves on longer this week. I got such a good pair that the frozen part is really thick and cold, and lasts a long time. I was keeping them on one hand and switching off so I had my hands free, plus they're really gold. Maybe I'll leave them out a bit before my infusion starts to I can keep them on longer.