I am the Neutrophil Queen (& WTH is Immunotherapy Anyway)

This week's labs (CBC, or complete Blood Count) report came back from this morning's blood draw, and my neutrophil count actually increased! I am up to a 1.89 from a 1.68. This is surprising because the chemo drugs that I am taking (Taxol and Carbo) are supposed to guarantee a drop in neutrophils (which are a type-- one of four-- of white blood cell, and help prevent infection. Infection is not a good thing for me.). Since the chemo wipes cells out indiscriminately, bad or good, because it cannot differentiate between them, it is expected that they will inevitably drop. [I am not a medical professional and so I know I am likely missing important details but hopefully am catching the gist... please bear with me if you are more knowledgable than I am.]

Since my counts are still above 1.5, chemo tomorrow is a go. If they had dropped, I would have had my chemo pushed back a week and would have instead started a neutrophil booster. If you read my earlier post about this, a possible side effect from the booster is bone pain (or ache). Luckily, since I do not have to have the booster this week, that means one less booster overall during the course of my treatment. It is, however, inevitable that I will have the neutrophil booster. It's okay. It's going to be all right.

Since I am going to have chemo tomorrow, and it will be the third week, that means I will also receive immunotherapy (pembro or Keytruda) or the saline solution placebo, as part of the clinical therapy trial I am participating in. Here is a review of immunotherapy and my trial:
It is a 2 to 1 chance that I am receiving immunotherapy. My trial is in Phase 3, which means it has had positive results in its first two phases. My non-medical explanation of immunotherapy is as follows: immunotherapy is some of the most groundbreaking research in cancer treatment in recent history, and is blowing researchers and the medical community away with its results. It works with the body's immune system to identify, target, and kill cancer cells. My immunotherapy is the type that works with the immune checkpoint inhibitors, and has already been approved for other cancers such as melanoma (and a few others). Former President Jimmy Carter reportedly was treated by the immunotherapy that I might be receiving. The really kickass thing for me is that while Triple Negative Breast Cancer makes it so that there are some types of treatments (namely, hormonal) that do not work for me, immunotherapy puts a big one back on the table.

Here is more about immunotherapy if you are interested.

So, How Was Camp Chemo?

Dear friends & family,
My first day of Camp Chemo was pretty breezy, and while I can't say that I would have chosen this camp of my own free will, the people are pretty nice, and they give you a fairly comfortable chair to use during your stay. There is a kitchenette, a TV that was unfortunately turned on during the last hour (now I can watch my stories), and wifi. Plus the added benefit of starting treatment that will get rid of this cancer.
Thank you for all of your thoughtful texts, Snapchats, FB messages, etc. It definitely helped brighten this big day by knowing you are supporting me. 😍

My morning began very smoothly, always a plus:

• Good night's sleep ✅
• Wake up on first alarm ✅
• Shower/get ready ✅
• Light breakfast (my standard warm water with lemon, smoothie, matcha tea) ✅
• Remembered to apply lidocaine cream to Power Port location ✅
• Only slightly overpacked my backpack with comfort items, laptop, books, and magazines ✅
• Arrive on time, with five minutes to spare ✅

Since it was my first day, I was informed that it would take a little longer, so they could assess whether or not I have allergies to one of the drugs called Taxol (I do not). I met the two nurses (Sofia and Jennifer), met with Researcher S., met with the Physicians's Assistant (PA) J., and another woman whose name I cannot remember but brought me a tablet with some surveys that I needed to complete for participation in the clinical trial.
I also had some additional blood drawn for mystery reasons (also part of the clinical trial, and is just a fact of life. The nurses don't know what it is for, either), my vitals checked, and completed a biopsychosocial assessment (just a Likert scale of how I am doing in terms of well-being, quality of life, anxiety, depression, pain, etc.). I feel mostly great, in case you are wondering.

Researcher S. stopped by to ask if I had brought my anti-nausea medications, and to say that I should not try to push through feelings of nausea or pain. She added, "Not that I think that you are one of those people," which shows that she does not know me at all, or is a great psychological device for getting "those people" to agree that they will not try to push through and will in fact take those medications when the need arises.

I got to use my Power Port for the first time! We began with a saline solution, then 30 minutes of the Pembro (immunotherapy drug) OR placebo saline solution LET US ALL TAKE A MOMENT TO HOPE/PRAY/SEND GOOD VIBES THAT IT IS THE PEMBRO THANK YOU, some "pre-meds" that included Benadryl and steroids in preparation for the Taxol, which was administered in a ramping-up fashion taking a little over an hour that we will not need to do in future appointments given that I am not allergic, and capping it off with Carbo for 30 minutes and one final saline solution flush.

This is a double-blind study, so I will never know whether or not I am one of the lucky recipients. It is a 2:1 chance that I will, though, so I have some okay odds.

Three or four hours later, I am feeling mostly normal. I had a snooze with Jax, one of the kitties I live with, on my stomach (Benadryl is the culprit for fatigue here), I took the dog (Toby) for a walk in this most gorgeous fall weather, and now it is time for dinner. I am told that it may be tougher on day three or four, so we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Here is a picture of Jax and me taken a few weeks ago. He loves to snuggle. Ignore my bedhead.