Arrived at the hospital 5 mins early for my 9.45 am appointment but that turned out to be optimistic as Dr Wasan was running late with his rounds and didn't show up until 10.15 a.m.So I guess I was lucky to be pushed up the queue to see him at 11.15 a.m. My blood test results were all normal, I was given another explanation about the side effects and signed my consent to the treatment. The medical research nurse took me to the chemotherapy treatment room. She explained that I was not selected for any medical trials as they thought that the prescribed treatment should be sufficient. She did say that I might be selected for a Hereditary genealogy trial that they are conducting. I said I was happy to but explained that the only incidence of cancer in my family was my mum's cousin who had died from cancer back in 1971 aged 51.
The chemo treatment room has 5 big reclining chairs around the edge of the room with a pillow on one of the arms for you to place your arm while you are infused with a drip stand next to it. Jeannie the nursing auxiliary came and explained the plan for the session, took my blood pressure, heart rate and temperature - all ok so the most important bit next she made me a nice cuppa! Rebecca who was my nurse for the session came to place the cannula in my left hand after she eventually located a vein - mine always seem to disappear when they are needed, they must know what's coming. She then attached me to a saline drip and went through the side effects of the drugs and what to do if I had any. I then received an anti sickness drug which had a side effect of peritoneal itching! This prompted me to ask the question " Is there a drug with a side effect" - Rebecca laughed and said of course not even an aspirin has side effects.
The scariest side effect I thought of the chemo drug Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin (R)) I was having intravenously was that it could cause a spasm in the throat and larynx which would make me feel as though I couldn't breathe. I was told not to panic and to tell them if I felt it or if I felt that I was loosing my voice as they could give me a drug to counteract it and they had oxygen on hand. OK keep calm I thought, They would also be monitoring me while I was receiving the infusion for any other allergies. The infusion would take longer today so they could administer it slower so they could observe for these.
We started just after 12.00 - luckily the throat spasm did not materialise much to my relief and the only reaction which was to be expected was a tingly feeling and ache in my left hand and wrist where the drug went in - but this should pass in a few days. So I settled into the armchair for 3 hours - had my ipod with loads of unlistened to episodes of The Archers to catch up on and have some of my packed lunch :-) well I was told to make a day of it. I was also able to see who my fellow chemo patients were. There were 3 ladies having treatment for breast cancer as they were wearing ice caps to help minimise hair loss. They said that it made them feel cold all over even though the room was very warm. Having no idea of what these caps would look like I was surprised to see that they looked like jockey caps. There was a chap there who was having the same as me but as he was on the opposite side of the room and did not like to shout. But I did over hear that he was on his last treatment and have to say that he looked healthy and had kept all his hair which I found encouraging.
Neil picked me up and home for a cuppa, a rest and a survey of the huge bag of tablets that I had been given - anti nausea, anti diarrhoea, mouthwash for ulcers and sore mouth, anti sickness, anti acid ! A tablet for every occasion. The interesting and weirdest side effect so far is the sensitivity to cold - my fingers tingle when I touch something cold even a plate from the cupboard or a glass of room temperature water. Hot drinks are fine as is hot food. But when I tried tepid water my mouth feels like it has been anaesthetised Cold food gives me a spasm in my mouth as if I have eaten something really sharp but warm food is fine. How weird is that - god knows what this stuff does to you to get rid of the bad stuff. Got me thinking what I can do to try and keep this harming me - need to do a bit of research on this.
A restful evening and a reasonable night's sleep before getting up to tackle my new drug regime!
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