October 19, 2010 - Chemo 5

Chemo treatment number 5 is now behind me, and passed fairly uneventfully.  Yesterday was my first treatment with Taxol, a "natural" toxin originally derived from the bark of a yew grown in the Pacific Northwest.  Thankfully, before they could mow down too many yews in Washington & Oregon, the toxin was also found in even higher concentrations in the fallen needles of a European tree.  Now it's "manufactured."  (All of these tidbits I learn from the marvelous Dr. B, who wants his patients to be completely informed, which I appreciate.)

My neighbor, Bev, gave me a ride to Ridgeview Medical Center yesterday morning so I could get my weekly blood draw at 9:30 AM.  After my lab, I walked across the parking lot to the clinic for my Dr. appointment and treatment.  After Dr. B reviewed my lab results and pronounced them "perfect," he debriefed me on this next regimen.  These treatments take 4 hours to administer (as oppose to the last four which took 2 hours), but the chemical is less toxic, and should have a lesser effect on my body's tolerance (although the previous treatments haven't been that bad).  


He also informed me that I may have more aches and pains in the upcoming weeks, but that Tylenol or Aleve should address them just fine.  Some of the muscle aches could be produced by the Taxol.  But because the Taxol doesn't inhibit the blood cell production quite as much as the previous concoction, the Neulasta shot I get 24 hours after treatment will boost even more blood cells.  This larger production in the bone marrow could give me more bone aches.  We shall see.


Anyway, he he continued to caution me that the Taxol sometimes causes an allergic reaction in the patient during the first 15 minutes of administering, and urged me to let the technicians know if I "feel like you want to die - you won't."  By this he meant, if I experienced shortness of breath, accelerated heartbeat, pressure on my chest, difficulty in swallowing - the kind of reaction I have had to epinephrine and that, I imagine, those with systemic allergies to bee stings experience.  In this case, they would stop the drip, give me about 30 minutes to get back to normal, and resume the drip.  By this time the body's chemical attach on the drug would have been spent, and should not reoccur.  But just in case, they add Benedryl to the pre-meds I get before they start the chemical drip.


Thankfully, the reaction did not occur.  But the Benedryl did make me drowsy, so I dosed off for a little bit during the treatment.  The good news is, that made the 4 hours pass more quickly; the bad news is, it gave me less time to read my book.  Knowing this was going to be a long day, I had the foresight to pack a few extras.  I brought the little footie-socks they gave me after my surgery a few months ago, so I was able to take off my shoes and still be comfortable.  I also packed a lunch, since I wasn't scheduled to be done until about 3 PM.  Even though I had a pretty big breakfast, I was thankful to have a ham sandwich and chips to keep me going.  Oh -- and I "borrowed" a few Milky Way snack size treats from the Halloween candy.  (Honey, I've eaten all the M & Ms, too, so we're going to need to buy more for the neighborhood kids.)


The rest of the time I just read.  Before I knew it, they were telling me I was done -- I finished at 2:45 PM.  Al was scheduled to pick me up around 3:30, so I just hung around and read some more.  Al picked me up and we came home.  I felt good.  We watched TV, had a good dinner, and I went to bed around 9:30.  Unfortunately, I once again forgot that the pre-med anti-nausea drug is a steroid, i.e. a stimulant.  I'm supposed to take a sleeping pill the first night or two, and I forgot.  So I was wide awake at 2:00 AM (which is why Steve, my wholesale rep, got an email from me at that hour this morning with a list of product I need him to bring to the shop today when he comes to visit).  I went downstairs and made myself a cup of cocoa and read some more, finally able to fall back to sleep at 4:30 AM.


I'm looking forward to a full day.  I have a sympathy arrangement to make, a wedding quote to get out, my monthly e-mail newsletter/blog to write and send, and Christmas merchandise to start setting up.  I'll need to close at 4 PM to go back to Waconia for my Neulasta shot, then drop off the sympathy arrangement in Chanhassen, then pick up Al at the Chevy dealership in Shakopee and meet our friends, Ann & Doug for dinner at Ruby Tuesday in Chaska.

That's the plan, anyway.