Chemo 2.3 Report

Well, last cycle (2.2) was very rough. I wasn't nauseated, per say, but I was throwing up. Plus I was so fatigued. Yet couldn't sleep. And since I was so lethargic it was hard to keep fluids going in. So I got dehydrated. Which made things worse.

This time around we changed things up a bit. I took a very powerful anti-nausea drug (Emend) before my chemo infusion. Plus they added Aloxi to my drip (another anti-nausea). Then the CPT-11 dripped in slowly along with the Leukovorin. After that was finished a new chemo drug was added: Avastin. Then when that was completed they hooked up the 5-FU which is the one I go home with for 46 hours. I will go have it removed this afternoon. Anyway, so I came home Monday and was very fatigued as usual. I went upstairs to rest and tried to watch TV, but could only do so through one eye. And even that eye was half open! I was drinking water as much as I could then I asked Dave to go get me a Jamba Juice. This really helped to give me some nutrition and fluids. I did drink most of it. At bedtime I took an Ativan which is supposed to help me sleep. My nose was running (and I suspected the drainage might be upsetting my stomach) so I took a Benadryl also. I slept so well! I woke up Tuesday morning feeling pretty good and even had enough energy to accompany David on some errands. Yesterday I drank two Jamba juices and today I will do more of the same. Also last night I took the Ativan and the Benadryl again and slept like a rock. This is really helping. Before all I could do is lie in bed and grunt answers at David and now I can actually get up and move about the house. I don't feel up to doing work in the garden but I'm happy with its progress so far.

So, hopefully we have found a winning combination and will stick with it as needed.

Chemo 2.2 Report

Well, I'm only on the 2nd day of this round so this may be a little preliminary. But I do have to say that the "good" anti-nausea drug Aloxi wasn't good enough, even when I added Zofran. Next time I'll do the Emend too. I don't know what the Aloxi costs but I do know how very expensive the other stuff is. Good thing I have great insurance!

Yesterday when I came home I was already getting so tired. Which was a bummer because I really wanted to work some more setting the garden up. Here's what it looks like right now:

The bamboo tee pee is the trellis for the peas. In the plot just to the right will be the long-term dedicated plot for asparagus. Along the fence to the right will be corn - 2 varieties. Up near the peas will be squash and tomatoes. The next plot "this way" will be carrots and salsify. The nearest one in the center will be garlic and blackeye peas. Over against the fence in the shade (which will probably cause these to fail unless the earth shifts soon) are beets, shallots, spinach, lettuce, and Swiss chard. There is space up near the garage where I will plant pie pumpkins. I will also plant some sunflowers along the edge by the corn and also throughout to give the garden a nice look. Right now I have to gt the irrigation laid out and plant the seeds, then cross my fingers!

This is just a nice shot of Theo hanging out beside our small pondless waterfall:

Chemo 2.1 Report

Sorry it's been a few days since I've updated. Last week was rough and I just didn't have the mental energy to put thoughts down. And now it's all fuzzy! Anyway, I had my chemo session 2.1 last week (1st cycle of the 2nd chemo regimen) on Monday. We had some disagreements with our oncologist about the anti-nausea pre-medication. Last time I started chemo they gave me Kytril which is effective for 12 hours. What good does that do a person who is having a 46-hour continuous infusion? Not much. Anyway, they claim that the insurance companies won't pay for the better drug: Aloxi. Aloxi is effective for 3 days at least. So, I had to take Kytril, get sick and supplement with Zofran before they would approve Aloxi. This time we had to repeat that process. And it's not like Zofran is cheap. The retail price of the 15 Zofran pills (and I think we have the generic even) was just under $600.00. It cost us a $5.00 copay. Anyway, I digress... with me getting the weaker premedication (Kytril) then having to supplement with Zofran , my stomach was kept on a teeter-totter. So, it was unsettled a lot which made me even more tired than I already was, plus I just didn't want to eat or drink. Which leads to dehydration. Which can be very bad.

So, I slept a lot. Or tried to. My eyes weren't comfortable open or closed. When they were open they were so tired they wanted to be closed. When they were closed then my eyelids felt heavy on my eyeballs, so my eyeballs wanted my eyes open. It was a struggle. Usually sleep won out but getting there was an effort.

By Friday I started feeling more energy and Friday evening it was like a switch was flipped. I wasn't ready to go shopping (we did that Saturday - until I crashed) but I was ready to eat a small amount of ice cream. That was an indication that my appetite was returning because on chemo I absolutely do not want anything sweet. It really is a good weight loss plan! One that I would not recommend...

I would like to take this moment to send out a very warm, heartfelt "Thank You" to my wonderful co-workers. Even though I'm on medical leave (and am actually on Social Security disability for the time being) I still technically have a job since they say they want me back when I am ready. And they are so generous! Every few days some wonderful dish of food shows up. I had no idea there were such wonderful cooks in the lab! The meals are so appreciated and really help out when I just have no energy. It really takes our minds off of meal prep and has really made things so much easier for us. We do still cook on non-chemo weeks like this one but on chemo weeks having something ready to heat and eat really makes it easier for me to eat when I can and keep what little energy I have up.

One more thing about the food: a few days ago a container of mushroom risotto showed up in the cooler. I don't know who left it. I'd like to request a bucket of it next time!!! It came just as I was getting around to eating again but I bet I could eat it even when my appetite is really low. It was that good! Anyway, thank you and please share the recipe with me.

My hair: I don't really know what to expect. I have been told that there's a very high chance of it all falling out and then someone else will say it'll thin gradually but not all fall out. I know that when chemo makes your hair fall out then your scalp feels tender and yesterday it did start feeling that way. But I still don't know what that means for me regarding hair loss. I am prepared with a wig, some hats, and eyebrow stencil and eyebrow pencils. If I have to go the wig route I'm not actually bothered by that. Having ready-to-wear hair may be nice (it'll always look good) and perhaps having a fresh start to my hair color corrections would be a good thing when it comes back in.