Treatment Week One

Alrighty... I guess now I'll go into my first week of treatment, up to today.  If I wait much longer chemo brain will probably set in and I won't remember the details.  So... Monday morning started with an appointment with my oncologist, in which he detailed what my treatment would entail for the next few weeks.  I'm doing 3 days on, with the following week off, for 2 cycles, and then another PET scan.  I'm getting a cocktail of 3 chemo drugs that they've cleverly nicknamed "ICE" (Ifosfamide, Carboplatin, and Etoposide).  I get the 'E' on all 3 days (1 hour infusion), and on the second day I get the 'C' (40 min infusion) and the bonus to day two is I get a pump to take home and wear that infuses the 'I' over a 24 hour period.  It's fantastic.  The fourth day I go into the clinic for a shot of Neulasta (helps the body make white blood cells), which, is also fantastic.  LOL

So after meeting with my Dr on Monday morning I found out that they were going to put in a PICC line since I had my previously placed port removed last August.  I'm not gonna lie... I was not looking forward to it.  By the time that got scheduled and I was taken to the hospital section of Robert Packer I had been at the clinic for about 3 hours.  So I go down and meet the PICC nurse who was super sweet and very happy to explain the procedure to me in detail.  It really didn't hurt too much, it was more uncomfortable... especially when she was threading the catheter in.  And of course, being that I have the best luck in the world, the catheter was giving her resistance for the last 6 cm or so.  I'm a stubborn one apparently.  She thought the end of the line was kinked, so she put in a guide wire, and put a new catheter in.  And of course, good old luck of the Irish here... the same thing happened with the second one.  So then it was off to interventional radiology so they could look at the line with the fluoroscope and reposition it properly.  That actually ended up being pretty easy, they only had to move it a little bit more to get it in the right spot.  On a side note, I found it hilarious that the radiologist that came in to check out the picc line was the same one that did my biopsy and gave me the pneumo.  

OK... so PICC line is in, and I head back to the clinic to get my premeds (steriods and pills for nausea).  After those have been in my belly for 45 min to an hour they start my infusion for the day.  At this point I force my husband to go get something to eat while I work on my knitting and wait for the poison to infuse.  By the time we're done and heading out of there it's around 3:30 (I had been there since 8:30).  And I am 3 things... 1- mildly nauseated from my magical chemo, 2- freaking starving cause all I've had to eat are the gmo-laden crackers that they have in the clinic (cause what's great to give to cancer patients.... of course!!  GMO's and high sugar snacks!), and 3- Extremely uncomfortable... I'm talking about boobs.  If you have no interest in hearing about them, skip to the next paragraph.  LOL.  One of the most difficult things for me to deal with was the fact that once I started chemo I would have to stop nursing my baby.  He was not prepared for it, and neither was I.  And after almost 9 hours with no baby and no pump I thought I was going to have a big problem.  I am still dealing with this issue... but it's getting better bit by bit.  And thanks to an amazing friend and my little freezer stash I had built up, my baby is still getting boobie milk (always frozen now, but hey, it's better than formula).  So, surprisingly after I got home, got the girls taken care of and downed some compazine for nausea I wasn't feeling too bad.  I made dinner and hung out with Chad and my little guy for the night.  

Day two... mom took me up, and things went much smoother.  Mostly because I already had the PICC line in place, and I had stopped for something to eat on the way.  I got my premeds, both infusions, and got set up with my chemo pump to go home with.  What a pain in the butt that thing is... I feel like I'm constantly carrying a purse strapped over my shoulder, and I have to keep reminding myself that I can't take it off.  Not to mention the tubing that makes it very challenging to get a coat or sleeve over my arm.  Anyway, I had a nice visit from a family friend while I was getting my treatment so that was a pleasantly unexpected surprise.  Things were about the same as the day before... nauseous on the way home, but it only lasted for a couple of hours.  

Day three... mom took me again, and I was dragging ass.  I didn't have to be back until 12:30 cause the pump was due to run until 1:00.  So after that finished I got my premed and my hour infusion (most of which I slept through) and then we were on our merry way.  I was more tired than anything and I kept having to pee (from IV fluids and the after effects of the drug in the pump which can cause bladder irritation), but otherwise I was in decent shape.  

Day four... I only had to go to Corning to get my Neulasta injection, which was a piece of cake considering everything else I'd had done earlier in the week.  The main side effect that people report with that shot is bone pain (which I was not looking forward to), so I took the recommended 500mg Tylenol and Claritin (don't know why the combo works, but it does) and was in good shape for the rest of the day.

Day five... No treatment today, no anything today... and boy did I feel like I'd been run over by a truck.  I woke up with the baby at around 4am, woke up Chad and handed him over because I felt about as shitty as I could remember feeling when I went through this before.  The nausea was extreme, the pills weren't helping, my head was pounding and at about 8am the vomiting started.  I think by around 7pm I was finally able to hold down some water and toast.  I slept most of the day and was about as unhelpful with my poor little guy as I could be.  I was afraid to walk around with him cause I was so weak I thought I was going to drop him.  Thanks to my hubby who saved the day and didn't utter one complaint.  

I woke up the next morning feeling much better... still a little queasy, but able to go on with my normal day.  Resuming my regular mommy role made me feel better, as did dinner out and some shopping today.  Hopefully since this week coming up is my off week (and Christmas!) I'll continue to improve and hopefully only need to rely on the occasional compazine.  Have a Great Christmas!!!  I know I will be enjoying it, as it will be Dagen's first!  :)