Here is a link I found that is pretty interesting with regards to the combo of chemo drugs I am on. Very informative, and holding true so far:
http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Combinationregimen/R-CVP
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Second Chemo: Check!
I'm 1/4 of the way done! The chemo session was pretty uneventful and I was feeling pretty good until last night. My lovely headache side effect kicked in during the late afternoon and I've had it ever since. Didn't get much sleep last night, and I'm still in bed hoping it will eventually go away. Stomach is a bit unhappy, but nothing too major. I'm hanging in there.
No crash from coming off the Prednisone yet (unless that is what is causing the headache). Maybe I'll luck out and my head won't spin around in circles like everyone has been telling me?
As for the hair, I noticed a LOT in the shower the other day. I'm thinking it might be partially in my mind because the doctor told me last Monday that I should start to see some hair thinning after my second treatment. I'll see what happens next time I wash it. It might be fine!
No crash from coming off the Prednisone yet (unless that is what is causing the headache). Maybe I'll luck out and my head won't spin around in circles like everyone has been telling me?
As for the hair, I noticed a LOT in the shower the other day. I'm thinking it might be partially in my mind because the doctor told me last Monday that I should start to see some hair thinning after my second treatment. I'll see what happens next time I wash it. It might be fine!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
First Chemo: Halfway Update....
....and I've felt better, I must say. I don't feel horrible, but enough to have it be annoying. The odd thing is that one day I will feel pretty good and then the next day, I will feel like junk.
Each day since chemo, I have had at least one of the following side effects, but usually its two or three at a time:
Although these are not fun, I have still been trying to do what I can to stay active. I've gone for long walks and worked out at home with free weights, but it's really unmotivating. I am going to see what I can do about going to the gym. My body's gone to crap because I've lost so much muscle and its been replaced with so much fat, that I feel pretty gross. I really need to work out at the gym where I can at least try to get some decent exercise. I'm supposed to avoid crowds and stuff because my immune system is shot and I can get sick easily, but I am hoping that if I go to the gym during non-peak hours, that I will be fine. I will give it a shot and see! Otherwise, I might go nutso.
On another topic, I heard bad stories and received warnings from family, friends and the nurses that coming off the Prednisone can be ugly, but I didn't seem to have any side effects for this first time. No nasty mood swings or anything. The good thing about getting off it was that my mouth isn't sore anymore.
No hair loss yet - fingers are crossed!
No puking yet - although, I've felt like it a few times so far.
Each day since chemo, I have had at least one of the following side effects, but usually its two or three at a time:
- Headache (can't take anything for it - sucks)
- Stomach cramps
- Jaw pain and sore mouth (think that's from Prednisone)
- Muscle aches
- Insomnia, yet tired (go figure)
Although these are not fun, I have still been trying to do what I can to stay active. I've gone for long walks and worked out at home with free weights, but it's really unmotivating. I am going to see what I can do about going to the gym. My body's gone to crap because I've lost so much muscle and its been replaced with so much fat, that I feel pretty gross. I really need to work out at the gym where I can at least try to get some decent exercise. I'm supposed to avoid crowds and stuff because my immune system is shot and I can get sick easily, but I am hoping that if I go to the gym during non-peak hours, that I will be fine. I will give it a shot and see! Otherwise, I might go nutso.
On another topic, I heard bad stories and received warnings from family, friends and the nurses that coming off the Prednisone can be ugly, but I didn't seem to have any side effects for this first time. No nasty mood swings or anything. The good thing about getting off it was that my mouth isn't sore anymore.
No hair loss yet - fingers are crossed!
No puking yet - although, I've felt like it a few times so far.
Friday, April 17, 2009
First Chemo: Check!
I've made it through the first treatment. The session was to last 8 hours because they had to give me the Rutixmab very slowly as it often results in side effects because the body is somewhat "freaked out" with it and tries to fight it.
I did really well. I only had a few small reactions. After about two hours, out of the blue I got what was something like "spring allergies". All of a sudden, I was sneezing like crazy, my nose was plugged yet running and I was coughing. The roof of my mouth was feeling quite bizarre...almost like someone was sticking it with needles. After about 20 minutes, all of this went away and then I got a scratchy sore throat. That went away after about 20 minutes as well and the final reaction was just some mild stomach cramping after I ate my lunch. Yummy hospital chicken salad sandwich and some yogurt. I survived the hospital food, so that was a bonus too!
They were giving me Benadryll (however you spell that), so I was pretty sleepy at times but it was pretty noisy in the room so I couldn't really actually get any rest. I think I may have dozed off here and there, but kept getting woken up by all of the talking and commotion. The room was set up better than I thought. It was open, but there were half-walls on each side of my bed, so Todd and I had a little bit of privacy from the people next to us. Each bed and/or chair looked out into the center of the room at the nurses' station, so I got to do some people watching too. There was one guy who, for the entire day, just cleaned the crap out of every bed/chair once a person left. He would sanitize EVERYTHING in the little "cubby", so that made me feel good since I am a mini-germophobe! But he was doing this because all of our immune systems are shot, and they have to get rid of any germs that might be around. Poor guy - that is all he did for the whole day while I was there. Clean, clean, clean. Todd and I wanted to ask if he would come to our house and clean?
I got home and was pretty tired, so I went to sleep early. I took my temperature (I have to take it twice a day) and everything was normal, so all seems to be well. The nurse called me a little while ago to see how I was feeling too. She is super nice.
I've got lots of energy right now, but this is thanks to the Prednisone (the steroids). I take them for 5 days, starting on the day of chemo. The nurse said that if I wanted to clean the house, these next couple of days would be a good time! She also warned me that next week I am going to "crash" pretty hard. She said that with the Prednisone, it is like drinking 5 Red Bulls a day, and then just stopping suddenly. So, in a few days, I shall start to feel assey I am told and I could be quite moody! Poor Todd. Therefore, I will enjoy the energy and lack of side effects I have right now because next week will potentially suck.
Overall though, everything went well!
I did really well. I only had a few small reactions. After about two hours, out of the blue I got what was something like "spring allergies". All of a sudden, I was sneezing like crazy, my nose was plugged yet running and I was coughing. The roof of my mouth was feeling quite bizarre...almost like someone was sticking it with needles. After about 20 minutes, all of this went away and then I got a scratchy sore throat. That went away after about 20 minutes as well and the final reaction was just some mild stomach cramping after I ate my lunch. Yummy hospital chicken salad sandwich and some yogurt. I survived the hospital food, so that was a bonus too!
They were giving me Benadryll (however you spell that), so I was pretty sleepy at times but it was pretty noisy in the room so I couldn't really actually get any rest. I think I may have dozed off here and there, but kept getting woken up by all of the talking and commotion. The room was set up better than I thought. It was open, but there were half-walls on each side of my bed, so Todd and I had a little bit of privacy from the people next to us. Each bed and/or chair looked out into the center of the room at the nurses' station, so I got to do some people watching too. There was one guy who, for the entire day, just cleaned the crap out of every bed/chair once a person left. He would sanitize EVERYTHING in the little "cubby", so that made me feel good since I am a mini-germophobe! But he was doing this because all of our immune systems are shot, and they have to get rid of any germs that might be around. Poor guy - that is all he did for the whole day while I was there. Clean, clean, clean. Todd and I wanted to ask if he would come to our house and clean?
I got home and was pretty tired, so I went to sleep early. I took my temperature (I have to take it twice a day) and everything was normal, so all seems to be well. The nurse called me a little while ago to see how I was feeling too. She is super nice.
I've got lots of energy right now, but this is thanks to the Prednisone (the steroids). I take them for 5 days, starting on the day of chemo. The nurse said that if I wanted to clean the house, these next couple of days would be a good time! She also warned me that next week I am going to "crash" pretty hard. She said that with the Prednisone, it is like drinking 5 Red Bulls a day, and then just stopping suddenly. So, in a few days, I shall start to feel assey I am told and I could be quite moody! Poor Todd. Therefore, I will enjoy the energy and lack of side effects I have right now because next week will potentially suck.
Overall though, everything went well!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Chemo Countdown! Two days to go!
Two more days until the first treatment. I'm officially off of work as of yesterday, so I've been running around trying to take care of as many errands as possible so I don't have to worry about them after Thursday.
I went yesterday to get all of my prescriptions filled that the doctor wrote out for me. I feel like an old woman! They don't even all fit into my little pill box that I keep my regular supplements in :) Most of them are "as needed" to combat the chemo side effects but there are three different ones to help with the nausea. The Pharmacist said that one of them in particular is "worth every penny" (they are $24/pill...thank God for insurance). So, I'm all set with my drugs!
I also talked to my cancer nurse and she said that I shouldn't lose all of my hair!! That is the BEST news I could have ever gotten! I have really thick, mostly healthy, hair so she said I should experience some thinning only. That has been the hardest part for me. And every time someone says "don't worry, it will grow back", I just want to reach out and smack them! Sure, it will grow back but it will take YEARS. Something I cannot mentally handle at this point. So, I'm glad that I don't have to worry as much about that. It takes a massive weight off my shoulders.
So, two more days! I'm still not nervous!
I went yesterday to get all of my prescriptions filled that the doctor wrote out for me. I feel like an old woman! They don't even all fit into my little pill box that I keep my regular supplements in :) Most of them are "as needed" to combat the chemo side effects but there are three different ones to help with the nausea. The Pharmacist said that one of them in particular is "worth every penny" (they are $24/pill...thank God for insurance). So, I'm all set with my drugs!
I also talked to my cancer nurse and she said that I shouldn't lose all of my hair!! That is the BEST news I could have ever gotten! I have really thick, mostly healthy, hair so she said I should experience some thinning only. That has been the hardest part for me. And every time someone says "don't worry, it will grow back", I just want to reach out and smack them! Sure, it will grow back but it will take YEARS. Something I cannot mentally handle at this point. So, I'm glad that I don't have to worry as much about that. It takes a massive weight off my shoulders.
So, two more days! I'm still not nervous!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Cindy's current mental state. Is she freaking yet?!
The answer? Not at all.
I am not sure why, but I am just not stressing over all of this. It is what it is. During my googling, coming across blogs like this one, I've read grown men saying that they cried for hours. Not me. For some reason, I've been dealt these cards and I will get through it. I am putting lots of faith in the fact that I am a healthy person and I take good care of myself (unless hockey is on TV and then it ends up being beer and pizza....shhhhh!) and that I will try to continue to work out and stay active and eat healthy through all of the chemo. Sure, I am probably going to be super sick at times and dead tired, but I am going to do my best to suck it up and at least get outside and go for walks during those times. Of course, I say this now. It could all change after my first chemo experience.
I've psycho-analyzed myself and have diagnosed myself as "living in a bubble of delusion". That's ok though. I am very happy there and it is working for me. Should the bubble burst, I'll deal with that when it happens. But for now....I am still the same me. And that is something that I hope my family and friends can depend on to get them through their worries :) After all, isn't attitude half the battle?
I am not sure why, but I am just not stressing over all of this. It is what it is. During my googling, coming across blogs like this one, I've read grown men saying that they cried for hours. Not me. For some reason, I've been dealt these cards and I will get through it. I am putting lots of faith in the fact that I am a healthy person and I take good care of myself (unless hockey is on TV and then it ends up being beer and pizza....shhhhh!) and that I will try to continue to work out and stay active and eat healthy through all of the chemo. Sure, I am probably going to be super sick at times and dead tired, but I am going to do my best to suck it up and at least get outside and go for walks during those times. Of course, I say this now. It could all change after my first chemo experience.
I've psycho-analyzed myself and have diagnosed myself as "living in a bubble of delusion". That's ok though. I am very happy there and it is working for me. Should the bubble burst, I'll deal with that when it happens. But for now....I am still the same me. And that is something that I hope my family and friends can depend on to get them through their worries :) After all, isn't attitude half the battle?
And, your treatment recipe is......
R-CVP. That is my treatment recipe. I was like "what the heck is that" and "how does one get that"? I have a cancer nurse officially assigned to me, so I can ask her all of the questions I want! Poor lady!
R-CVP is 4 different types of cancer drugs:
Say those 5x fast!! Holy crap.
I will need to get a treatment every 3 weeks, for 8 cycles. So, this means 6 months of chemo. My first appointment is April 16th and it is going to last for 8 hours. The Hematologist told me that I would be, and I quote, "snowed". Can doctor's say that?! At any rate, after that 8 hour session, all others should only take around 4 hours. After I finish my 6 months of chemo, I am not totally off the hook. I still have to get Rituximab once every 3 months for the next two years. During all of chemo via I.V., I'll continue to get scans and blood tests....hence continuation of the human pin cushion! I might whistle if I flap my hands around too fast because of all the holes they are going to make in me with needles!
R-CVP is 4 different types of cancer drugs:
- Rituximab
- Cyclophosphamide I.V.
- Vincristine
- Prednisone
Say those 5x fast!! Holy crap.
I will need to get a treatment every 3 weeks, for 8 cycles. So, this means 6 months of chemo. My first appointment is April 16th and it is going to last for 8 hours. The Hematologist told me that I would be, and I quote, "snowed". Can doctor's say that?! At any rate, after that 8 hour session, all others should only take around 4 hours. After I finish my 6 months of chemo, I am not totally off the hook. I still have to get Rituximab once every 3 months for the next two years. During all of chemo via I.V., I'll continue to get scans and blood tests....hence continuation of the human pin cushion! I might whistle if I flap my hands around too fast because of all the holes they are going to make in me with needles!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
