On Monday, I got the second dose of Chemo, this one here in Austin. This one was the traditional drug, not the high-power one Dr. Kies wants me in Houston for. So, I was back in the open area at Texas Oncology for this one, just like I did six years ago.
Cheryl and I headed into the facility around 9:30 and did the normal blood work to make sure everything was working fine. We visited with a Physician's Assistant shortly afterward to go over the side effects of this drug (same as we did in Houston, but we have to do this since this is a different bunch of folks), and then we headed off into the infusion center.
OMG: Huskers!
As we got situated in the infusion center, and got seated in the lounge chair where I would spend a few hours, the nurse who would be doing all the work walked up and was wearing a Cornhusker sweatshirt! Cheryl homed in on that right away! Turns out he was from Omaha, so they started up a conversation on things Nebraska. Then it turns out he is ex-Army, so he and I did a turn on which is better: Air Force or Army. Once again, we called a truce and agreed not to argue the point. We are both vets, and proud of it!
Still, he stuck me with the evil needle and then hooked me up to the IV and started all the wonderful chemistry I would be receiving. I did ask him if he had any IV Red Bull around, as I am getting pretty tired these days, but, alas, none was to be found!
More sleepy time
The first thing I got this time was more Benedryl, and once again, I got another nap! Cheryl got to sit there and work on Birthday cards and Thank-you cards and whatever else she brought to keep her going while I slept through the adventure. All in all, it only took about three hours for this dose.
Off to school
After this session, Cheryl took me to school for my afternoon class, and picked me up later in the day. I was fine after this treatment, but the side effects started setting in a few days later. Unfortunately, those side effects are starting to get pretty bad, bad enough that I had to visit the PA again on Thursday to see what we can do about things
Side effect issues
WHat seems to be going on now is a bunch of issues that are causing me to have problems eating. I am getting a rash on my chest and back, minor in the grand scheme of things. The real problem is a bunch of sores in my mouth which are making it hard to eat. They are not exactly painful, but any food with texture or much in the way of spiciness is very hard to eat. I need pretty bland food to get things down (ice cream is good, thank goodness. So is yogurt, or pudding).
The PA prescribes some mouth washes that have pain killers in them that should help heal the sores and deaden the pain. Hopefully that will help at night. I am having problems sleeping because my mouth drys out badly when I sleep with my mouth open. I wake up and need to drink something to moisten my mouth. It makes for a restless night. We will see if the new medications help.
A week off
I have a week off and then we go back to Houston to start another full round of this Chemo treatment. We will do exactly the same treatment plan which takes a full three weeks. The plan is to do another set of scans after that and see how the tumor has responded to all of this chemistry. Then the tumor board will reassess what they think we should do. Everyone involved is praying for good results.
I am hopeful that we will see something positive. Except for the side effects, I am feeling positive effects from all of this. The pressure from the tumor seems to be much less than it was, my vision is much improved, all good signs. So we all feel much better than we did before starting on this adventure. All we can do is hang in there and pray.
We are very grateful for all the prayers coming from all of you as well. Thank God for all of you. Without Him, and all of you, I do not think Cheryl and I could be getting through all of this. Everywhere we both go, we hear good wishes from everyone. Thanks to all!
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