Chemo Treatment 1 of 8 (Sponsored by The Beatles)

Just a quick note to let you all know that things went well today. I’m a bit tired at the moment but happy to get the first treatment out of the way…7 more to go. Over the next few weeks I’ve got 6 appointments scheduled. I think I’ve had more appointments in the last 2 months than I’ve had in my entire life!

I didn’t sleep well last night. Mainly because I have to drink 2 litres of water a day and I was up in the night 4 times to go to the bathroom. In between trips to the bathroom my brain was “on”…singing Beatles songs, thinking about the treatment, thinking about stuff I need to buy for Easter etc.

On the way to the appointment today, Steve and I listened to The Beatles Abbey Road CD to take off some of the edge. The Cancer Clinic was quite busy today. Although there were some younger faces there today, it still reminded me of a retirement home. There was even an older gentleman playing the piano to entertain the patients in the waiting areas. Steve and I were waiting line at the Tim Horton’s when the piano guy starts playing a familiar tune…we looked at each other and laughed because the piano guy was playing ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ from The Beatles Abbey Road album. Strange.

The appointment started off with getting some blood tests done. All my blood levels were fine so then I went to the chemo room. I had the choice of two seats…I chose number 15. The session started with taking 2 anti-nausea drugs Dexamethasone (dex-a-METH-a-sone) and Ondansetron (on-DAN-se-tron). Then the nurse put in the intravenous line. The first chemo drug was Doxorubicin (Dosc-oh-RUBE-i-sin) and it was injected into the intravenous line by two huge syringes. Next I had Cycophosphamide (sigh-clos-FOS-fa-mide) that was administered though the intravenous line by drip. I will have these 2 drugs for the first 4 chemo cycles then I will change to 2 different drugs for the last 4 cycles. The chemotherapy beginning to end will be 8 cycles, 3 weeks apart. I’ve been told that any nausea will happen in the first 2 -3 days. So, for the next 3 days I will continue taking the same anti-nausea drugs that I had before the chemo plus Prochlorperazine (pro-klor-PARE-a-zeen) when required. I’m told the fatigue will probably set in 4 or 5 days from now.

There are lists of side effects for each of these medications, but the most important to note is increased risk of infection due to decreased white blood cells. For this reason, it is dangerous for me to be around people who are sick. Since my body’s immune system will be running at a minimum, if I catch any kind of sickness, I could be hospitalized. I am required to take my temperature 3-4 times a day to make sure I don’t have a fever. Don’t be offended if you come to the house and you are asked to enter the decontamination room…just kidding…but we have dispensers of hand sanitizers all over the house.

So much for the quick note.

me