Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Worst Monday Ever

Yesterday was round 2 of the post-operative chemo regimen. It starts with a 15-minute IV of anti-nausea medicine, followed by 2 hours of olaxiplatin. After that's done, they give me a shot of 5FU, then hook up the continuous feed pump of 5FU. The pump runs 46 hours.

I knew I was in trouble when I started feeling a bit queezy about halfway through the olaxiplatin. I didn't think much about it, because the only time I had ever thrown up was 2-3 days after the IV, when the anti-nausea IV wore off. Anyway, when I was finished, I got in my car and started heading into the office, like normal. It wasn't long before I knew I was going to be sick. The problem is, the office is only 10 minutes from the doctor's office, home is 40. So I decided to go ahead to the office. I made it to the parking lot, got out of the car, and proceeded to get sick in the grass. After awhile, I started feeling a little better, so I decided to head in to my office. I figured if I could just sit quietly for a bit I'd be ok. Boy was I wrong. For the next hour or so I was throwing up in my trash can. I tried to get some anit-nausea medicine in me, but it's hard when you can't keep anything down. Eventually a couple coworkers drove me home, for which I am very grateful.

Once I got home, things seemed to settle down. I was able to get some Kitryl in me, which is the best anti-nausea medicine ever. Of course, at $60 per pill it ought to be. The nurse at the doctor's office was kind enough to get me some samples. I think I'm going to request a prescription, as I have 10 more of these Mondays to endure.

All evening I basically layed on the couch trying not to move. At night I didn't sleep very well. I kept waking up. This was the case last time too, so I'm sure it has something to do with the chemo. Who knows, the list of possible side effects from olaxiplatin and 5FU is pretty long.

Today, I feel much better. The Kitryl is working. I just had a bowl of chicken soup, first thing I've eaten since breakfast yesterday. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to return to work tomorrow.

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