Sunday, November 30, 2008

End of November


Chemotherapy is not cheap! I don't know how one without some kind of health plan could possibly afford it. The above is a sample of just my monthly visits/treatment bill. When you add in prescriptions, medical supplies and other items that you use, it can get quite expensive.


I hope that everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with their families. I wasn't too hungry this year, but I had figured that would be the case with Thanksgiving being during a treatment week. Christmas is going to be during a treatment week also, but it will be my last cycle.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of December (the shortest daylight of the year month) and the weather is just starting to get cold, but so far no snowstorms. I'm looking forward to my upcoming 'off-week' and REALLY trying to keep away from crowds or anywhere that I could get sick due to my weakened immune system.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

5 Months of Chemo finished !


I went for my treatment today and it was another short one. I got a great informative publication from my oncologist about "living with, during and after cancer" and some great informative links that I'll post a little bit later.

I had my port flushed with a heparin lock and then was disconnected from the portable infusion pump...ah...what a great feeling!

Not sure what I'll be feeling like later or tomorrow, but I'm hoping to be well enough to go to my nephew's house for a little while. My platelets and white blood cell counts are pretty low and that makes my system's immunity level very low, so I'll have to stay away from anyone who is sick, or possible not go, but I'm hoping that everything work's out okay.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

No sleep last night !


I'm not sure what they mixed in that anti-nausea IV that they gave me yesterday, but I slept for a few hours in the late afternoon, then was up until midnight, then I tried to go to sleep, but kept tossin' & turnin', so eventually got up and started playing piano with headphones on.

When I went for today's chemo, I asked my oncologist during my exam and he said it was just the usual anti-nausea meds IV. Then I asked the same question to the oncology nurse that I had and she said it might have been a little stronger with yesterday's dose but it ususally lasts about 3 days.

I took a "baby card" today to give to one of the Physician's assistants, who has been a great source of information and help since my starting chemo back in July, but she wasn't in and my oncologist said she called in with contractions. Her due date is December 25th, so we discussed it as maybe being new and first baby and possibly a false alarm? I guess I'll find out more tomorrow, but I left the card with my oncologist to give to her. I'll be back tomorrow, but she might not be? She had planned on starting her maternity leave at the end of this week anyway.

Today's treatment was the shorter one with just the port flush, unhook the IV lines from the portable infusion pump and connect me to the IVs on the stand. I took some very quiet Christmas music to listen to and felt myself sleeping and starting to snore once or twice, only to wake and open my eyes and see others staring at me. I apologized and told the group that I didn't get much sleep and to just kick my chair if it happens again. One gentleman said that it didn't bother him at all and snore away!

Anyway, finished up the leucovorin and saline, then my infusion pump was filled with 5-FU while they flushed the port and re-connected me to the pump and I was good to go. It really poured today, but it was warmer out. There were some vivid lightning strikes that we could see clearly overlooking Wellesley Hills along with a wind-driven rain.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Round TEN has started !

Or 'cycle' ten, although at this point it seems like a boxing match and it's in 'round' ten. It's been a long ride from the hot humid summer days of treatment to the colder fall into winter weather treatment days. I needed gloves and had to dress warm and needed two blankets during treatment today. The nurses are very helpful in that respect.

I had an early appointment this morning and decided to update this blog before laying down for awhile. I went in for bloodwork, then had my exam and then got the 'poke' in the port (for some reason it really hurt today, and a new oncology nurse, maybe a technique issue?), anyway, I'll try to avoid her for the rest of my visits if possible.

After the needle was in and the dressing applied, they started me on the usuals, aloxi and compazine and when that was done, the dreaded Eloxatin (brand name) of oxaliplatin along with leucovorin. After that was finished, they flushed the port and hooked me up to the portable pump of 5-FU (fluorouracil) and sent me on my way.

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It really knocked me down with today's treatment, more so than I can remember, but I know that the end is near and that helps a lot

Thursday, November 13, 2008

3/4 Finished with Chemotherapy :)


Today I went and had my portable infusion pump of 5-FU disconnected which ends my 9th cycle !

I'm now 3/4 through my treatments!!!

I asked my doctor what the next steps would be when I finished my treatments at the end of this year and when could I have the surgery to remove the implanted mediport with catheter.

He said that upon completing treatments that I would need to come in to have the port flushed every 6-8 weeks, have some blood tests and that he would be ordering scans and we'd take it from there.

I asked if the mediport could come out if the scans looked okay and he said he likes to keep them in until after the followup colonoscopy which would be in May of 2009 for me.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Pump Problem

It was another cold day today so I wore gloves and glad I did. My face was very red from the oxaliplatin I got yesterday. This is normal and usually goes away after a couple of days. It was a good visit, good exam report and short infusion then hooked back up to portable infusion pump for another 24 hours.


When I got into my car to leave, the pump started beeping constantly and I noticed it said "shutoff" on the display, so I went back inside and they checked it and re-set it. I hope that it doesn't happen around 3:00am overnight.


The steroids in the meds from yesterday first made me sleepy and I had a nap when I got home. Unable to drink (or even want) cold or room temp beverages, I had a coffee...well...I couldn't get to sleep until after 2:00am....learn from experience...no coffee after mid-day from now on.


My cough and post nasal drip is just about gone. I never filled the Flonase prescription, but the saline nasal spray seemed to work fine with the B-complex and folic acid.


I've accumulated a good sized "med package" that I pull out when I go to chemo now. It includes these items, but not all used each time/cycle :


Lidocaine

Bandages

Medical Tape

Gauze

Anti Nausea Meds

Nyacin Powder (for rashes)

Tom's of Maine drymouth anti-cavity mouthwash

Milk of Magnesia

Senecot

Stool softeners

Antibiotics for certain infections I've gotten.

Saline Nasal Spray

and other prescriptions that I haven't had to fill.

I've probably forgot about some of them too...chemofog syndrome most likely.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Cold and Windchills - 9th cycle continues


Today was the coldest day yet that I had to drive to my chemo treatments. It wasn't too bad driving there at 7:45am (about 35 degrees with a windchill that made it feel like 25 degrees). I wore a winter coat, sweater, warm shirt, undershirt and GLOVES.


Coming home I was shivering the whole way home and couldn't wait to put on an extra pair of socks and a heavy sweater, even though the heat was on and it was 77 degrees inside! The oxaliplatin is the worst chemo med in my opinion. Maybe in the near future they will have something that only kills the bad cells and not the good cells with it?


I came home, got warmer and decided to have a nap. Naps are your friend during chemo infusions. I'm hooked up to my infusion pump of 5-FU and will be going back tomorrow. Due to the numbness in my fingers, this is taking me a much longer time to type, so I'll keep it short and update later in the week.


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Starting 9th Cycle

I'll start my 9th cycle (of 12) tomorrow. This is a HUGE milestone for me and if at the beginning anyone had told me that I'd be feeling this good after 4 months of chemo, I never would have believed them!!!






Yeah, there are days that are not very comfortable, but all in all, you learn how to deal with it and get over it. I'm just now starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait to have this mediport implant taken out of me and not having to drag a portable infusion pump around. But, I won't get ahead of myself, I still just think positive and go one step at a time and deal with whatever issues I'm facing and keep movin' on.






So with 2/3 of my treatment down, I begin the final 1/3 and last 4 cycles tomorrow and I thank all of you for your support and I sincerely hope that this blog will help anyone else who finds themselves with a similiar diagnosis. It is treatable and beatable !

Saturday, November 1, 2008

November 1st and 2/3 through chemo !

It's been a long journey since my colonoscopy last May, 2008, but I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel.

There were a few bumps when I started my chemotherapy that involved having to have my implanted catheter port re-worked and a setback due to low white blood and platelet counts, but this past week, cycle 8 of 12, went about as well as can be expected.

The Oxaliplatin is the main contributor to the most significant side effects, the other chemo meds don't really give me much problems other than some mouth sores, body/skin rashes, headaches and general fatigue, along with the chemobrain or chemofog, which I'm told is similiar to the likes of a mild form of the symptoms of early Alzheimer's. The main thing is that these will all go away when my treatments end after the last week in December.

In life, you take a lot of things for granted until you find yourself not being able to do such everyday things as move around without a pump attached to you, drink a cold glass of water or soda, reach into a fridge without gloves, play a guitar without really "feeling" the strings and even typing on a keyboard can be more time consuming as the neuropathy gives you a numbness in your fingertips and you can't "feel" the bumps on the "F" and "J" keys, so you have to watch as you type and correct manually afterwards.

So, with only 4 cycles left to go of treatments, I do see the light getting a little brighter each day at the end of the tunnel and I look forward to the follow up CEA blood tests, the CT scans and PET scans, having this catheter-port removed and the final follow-up colonoscopy which will be an annual check for the rest of my life.

Again, thanks to all for your continued support and best wishes for the upcoming holidays!!!