Well, I have to admit that chemo was a little different than I expected. We had a great visit with Dr. Law. She spent a good deal of time with us, answering our questions, planning out the next treatment, etc. We feel like we've been led providentially to some amazing doctors over the last month.
We started out the chemo treatment in the "group" room. It's an open room with 5 chemo stations in it. The mood in there was a little depressing. There were two other women in there getting treated. I felt like I wanted to chat with them, like it would be a good time for community building. A cancer pep rally, if you will. But they both seemed like they were in their own world, very quiet, somewhat down. And then I had to remember that everyone handles cancer differently, and not everyone wants to make a positive experience out of it. It was a little humbling. I'm glad Phil was there to talk to.
I started the process with an IV injection of sodium chloride, 18 mg. of steroids, a long-lasting anti-nausea drug (lasts for 3 days), and some benedryl. Luckily I mentioned that I vomit violently when I have famatodine (Pepcid AC), and one of the anti-allergy that they usually give, they omitted for me. The antihistamines and steroids are to prevent an allergic reaction to the chemo drugs, so they administer them first.
We then got moved to the private room which was way better. Our nurse Carrie was amazing and informative. Yet another stellar player in the cancer cast. They then administered the Taxol drug, after which about 10 minutes my heart started pounding, my stomach was wonky, I got flushed and had a "whoosh" feeling throughout my body. Carrie immediately stopped the IV flow, I went to the bathroom, came back and ate something, and about 15 minutes later they started me up again, slowly then ramped up to the full flow, and I was fine. I think it was a conglomeration of getting all those different meds all at once, as well as my body needing to get used to the medications. After my Taxol was done (after about 3 hours), then I got the Platinum drug which took about 40 minutes, then we were done. All in all it was about a 6 hour process. The next treatment in 4 weeks will be a mix of IV port (the one I just got put in, which is what they used today) and my intra-peritoneal (IP) port, and it's stretched out over more days. Day 1 is IV, day 2 is IP, and day 8 is IP. Hopefully I'll be able to tolerate the IP chemo. Only about half the patients who try it end up finishing the course that way. The other half go back to IV port. Pray for us that I can handle the IP because it's slightly more successful for any kind of abdominal cancer since it's a direct shot right into the abdomen.
After we got home I took a rest while everyone ate dinner, then I joined them. Then Keith and Cindy and the kids came over for a nice visit, as well as the Busses. A nice evening was had by all on our wonderful, twinkly-light porch.
Overall I'm feeling okay, just a little bloated from some pesky gas that seems perfectly happy to hang out in my body instead of working it's way out. This weekend will tell us just how many side effects I'll have, if any. I'm hoping I won't have too many. Better to hope that than expect that I will have them.
Time for my shot and coumadin. Love to all and thanks for all the well wishes for today. Love, Sandy
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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