Tomorrow will be 5 weeks since my last infusion.
During my 8-week course of the dose-dense A/C, I gained an additional 14 pounds, on top of my already 50 pounds of excess baggage. That was in spite of feeling so much like crap that I rarely ate. After two weeks off from chemo, I noticed I was losing almost a pound of weight per day, so that by the time I started the weekly paclitaxel infusions, I was back to my starting weight.
Then the scale crept up, up, up, again, until I was an additional 27 pounds. I didn’t worry much about it. I thought it would start peeling off again when I was through with the paclitaxel. I couldn’t wear my wedding ring, and I can’t wear most of my clothes, but hey! It’s temporary, right? Hmm. A two week break from paclitaxel, and no downward movement on the scale. I don’t think I can blame all this weight gain on the steroid any more, and I said as much to my chemo nurse when I went back on the paclitaxel.
However, today, despite not having changed a thing, my weight is down. Not by a lot, but it is definitely trending downward. Despite Halloween candy, eating WAY too many of the cranberry bliss cookies I made last week, and my love affair with cream cheese, the scale is moving ever so slowly (I’ll take it!) downward.
I’m still fat, I still can’t wear my wedding ring, and most of my clothes still do not fit – but we’re making progress, and it’s progress that I can see. At last.