The chemo is the topic of this post.
Tonight I went back to the chemo doc's office to meet the surgical oncologist, Dr. Ong, who will be placing my port next week. It's a pretty simple procedure, but it's technically outpatient surgery, so I had to sign all these forms and have to go get an xray and bloodwork done to get the ok for anesthesia. He said I could opt to stay awake for the surgery and they'd just really numb my chest. I said "no thank you!" I hyperventilate when they draw blood... I don't really think it'd be wise for me to be awake for inserting a tube into my chest! I guess there is also an ever-so-slight risk they could puncture a lung when inserting it. I asked Dr. Ong how many times he's punctured someone's lung. He said once out of the 4000-5000 ports he's inserted in his career. I guess that is pretty good odds.
So, what exactly is a port you ask? A port is a catheter inserted below the clavicle just under the skin, that then runs to the superior vena cava, just above the heart. It provides quick access for the nurses to insert the chemo drugs or fluids, while keeping out of the way the rest of the time. Here is a picture of one, as you can see, it's not that big.
I finished my reading on cisplatin. Chemo drugs are so interesting! I don't know who came up with this, but they're geniuses! So basically cisplatin is made from platinum and the metal goes into DNA that is dividing and binds to it, so that it can't continue dividing. When that happens the cell dies. Cancer cells divide rapidly, which makes the chemo work so well against them. It also starts to kill off other rapidly dividing cells, like marrow and hair follicles. For some reason, normal cells are able to bounce back after chemo treatment is finished, but cancer cells do not.
The short-term side effects from my chemo will mainly just be nausea; however, it will also increase the effectiveness, and therefore side effects, of the radiation treatment by ten-fold. Yuck! (I will post all about radiation next week). The only other things might be a thinning of my hair and I'll stop menstruating for a couple months (sorry if that was too much for some of you.)
The long-term side effects are that I'll probably hit menopause a few years early and there is very slight a risk of a 2nd cancer because of it. The thing is, these 2nd cancers tend to show up 20 years later and for most people with cancer who are diagnosed in their 60s or 70s, 20 years later isn't that big of a deal. Even so, not doing this treatment would almost certainly lead to another recurrence and then I won't even get the option to see if something shows up 20 years later.
As long as I'm being a downer, I got to see the chemo infusion room today. It was just wall-to-wall recliners divided by half-walls with mini tvs and magazine racks and homemade afghans, with IV polls behind them. It was late when I was at there so no one was getting treatment done, but I could just imagine the chairs filled with sick, elderly folks getting chemo dripped into them with me sitting across the way. It was sort of this depressing image, but hey... at least they have tvs. :\
I'm meeting with my MO on Tuesday at 8am to finalize my treatment plan. I ran into her for a few minutes again today. She said she'd been thinking about my case and might give me 3 big doses across course of treatment instead of the 6 weekly ones. She had some case studies she'll go over with me on Tuesday and from there we will decide what we think is best. She also reiterated that I had nothing to fear because I was about the best chemo patient possible. I have healthy marrow and no other health conditions. I have the best shot of making the chemo effective.
Well, the chili is done simmering. I think it's time to eat. Until next time.... :)
I have tried just about every nausea medicine on the market (they're mostly intended for chemo patients). Some of them cause serious panic attacks, so be careful. Dissolvable Zofran is good if you need to stay awake. Phenergan is great if you want to go to sleep. I forgot which one causes panic attacks. But man, I freaked out in the hospital from it! Almost pulled out my IV! I'll give you a list of the nausea meds (good vs. bad) when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteThey're starting me on Dexamethasone daily once chemo begins. The side effects from the fact sheet she gave me look like trouble sleeping and irritability. Hopefully it doesn't give me a panic attack.... that would be bad. I don't even take benadyrl ever because it gives me jitters.
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