yesterday, i had my third chemotherapy. it was almost like starting over, because i knew that the doctor would be changing one of the chemotherapy drugs due to some neuropathy in some of my fingers and toes. it is a little bit better, by the way, but not completely gone. he told me that even if he were to slash the dose to one that would do little, it could still cause permanent neuropathy.
so the doctor told me that i had two choices: choice number one was to do nothing. to stop the chemotherapy and go home. my eyes got bright, i sat up in the "chemo chair" ( the nurse had already started my fluids, as the doctor was delayed for a bit), and smiled. he said, well this one is not for you. :( my second choice, i felt as though i had chosen the wrong door on a game show, is to use the adriamycin and cytoxan. i told him that i was very wary of the adriamycin. he laid out the pros ( mostly) with some cons thrown in for good measure. i told him that he would have made a very good salesman, because i now was agreeing to the adriamycin. i will say that it took less time yesterday. instead of the 5 pre-medications that i had received before the taxotere and cytoxan, i now was only having to get three. and the adriamycin is given IV push. although it is still a slow process. i was very, very fortunate to have gotten such a wonderful chemo nurse yesterday. she hit my " old faithful" vein on the first try, and when she was giving the adriamycin, she did it just as she was supposed to- injected 2ml, check for blood in the line, inject 2ml,etc. that is so she does not accidentally push the drug into my tissues.
which brings up why i have such an aversion to adriamycin in the first place. when i was younger, 30 years bc ( before children) i worked as a staff pharmacist at wake med raleigh. there was one particular doctor who wanted the pharmacists to mix his chemotherapy, which he gave in the hospital. we all took turns and one day i drew the short straw. i scrubbed down, headed for the sterile flow hood in the IV room , and proceeded. when i first injected the diluent into the adriamycin i was shocked at the color. it was red, and i mean stop sign, hunk of burnin' love, blood red. as soon as i got my breath, i mixed the adriamycin and was almost home free, when a couple of drops the the drug dripped onto my fingers. i washed my hands at once, but in a few days all of the skin peeled off several of my fingers. our pharmacist manager did not think that we needed any sterile gloves, a cost issue i guess. now it would not be acceptable not to use them. that made me think, if a couple of drops can do that to the skin on my fingers, what on earth is it doing in some poor person's body? i vowed then and there to never , ever have this drug! well, i can tell you that i do not say never, ever anymore. gets me in trouble every time.
i have also heard the patients' horror stories of the " red devil". no, i did not nick name adriamycin this, someone beat me to it. nausea and vomiting have been two of my greatest fears of having chemotherapy. this drug has a bad rap for causing that. also, i have to now have an echo cardiogram at the end because the red devil can also damage your heart. i will not bore you with the rest of what the red devil can do, i will just say that it comes by it's nick name honestly.
so far, i have had more nausea than usual. tomorrow is the " dreaded third day" after chemo. i am hoping that things will stay about the same, and if so, no problem. i am drinking 5 of the 20oz tervis bottles full of water every day. one of the best pieces of " cancer advice" that i have received was to drink lots of water. this sweet little old lady told my husband to tell me to drink lots and lots of water. she said that she did just that, and had no nausea( i think she did not get the red devil, but i am not sure).
they have changed my chemo date from every three weeks to every two weeks. that is because taxotere is given every three, and adriamycin, every two weeks. so my last chemo, thank goodness, is august 14th, instead of august 19th. i am hoping that i will feel good enough to start again. i think just knowing that it will be my LAST CHEMO will be a big incentive. i am, as always, thankful for the thoughts, best wishes and prayers that i receive from my family and friends. i am so very grateful for this.
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