Holly's Notes and Condition

Chemo Dose #06 - Done! Another OUCH Dose!

I had my 6th dose of chemo this afternoon and just as last week, I needed another shot of Procrit, as my RBC's and Hemoglobin counts were low again.

Phyllis, Dr Okun's nurse wasn't there and 'Shirley', a very pleasant older retired nurse was filling in for her - let me just say - I missed Phyllis' technique so much! It started with me telling Shirley that we were going to use the back of my right hand this week - she looked and tipped my hand on the side, I had no reason to doubt her expertise, that is until she started to 'fish' for a vein there - it hurt, a lot and evidently, I have 'rolling veins' and she lost it, so she 'fished some more' - until I was truly crying, so she finally decided that she'd try the back of my hand. (As I type this the spot she fished in is already bruising.) Then she put the IV in the back of my hand and that made me tear up again - but she got a good line this time - thank heavens! Then she set the IV drip really fast, faster than Phyllis has been setting it and Dave and I asked her to slow it down, as I start to feel nausea if its too fast. Believe me, I didn't want to be there any longer than I needed to be - but its a 'pay now with a slower IV or pay later with nausea and chemo burning of the blood vessels.' Dave had to run a couple of errands, so after he watched helplessly as I got mangled, and he covered me up with my jacket, as I started getting cold again and I was as comfortable as I was going to get - he left to run his errands.

There were more men in chemo today, 7 actually, and only 5 women in the time I was there - so the TV on the wall was loudly talking about football info as the Super Bowl is this upcoming Sunday. I was glad I had brought my IPOD to listen to my music - today I chose Frank Sinatra and finished with John Gary (for those of you unfamiliar with John Gary - my Mom and Dad got me started listening to him several years ago. My Mom tells the story that a young Elvis Presley aspired to sing a ballad as well as John Gary.) Then Shirley turned the channel to the news, and by then Dave had returned and I was seeing concerned faces watching the TV - Dave said that evidently Iran is targeting US troops - that's another thing that Phyllis does - she keeps the chemo room a pretty calm place, all things considered - so I put my earplugs back in and since I had chosen a seat where I couldn't see the TV - I remained calm, as opposed to the men watching the TV.

Shirley gave me my Procrit shot in the main chemo room in my left arm, as my IV was finishing. At least Dave got her to please give the shot on the back of my arm - that seemed to help last week and while I know it burns going in, even under the best of circumstances - Shirley rushed the push and it hurt like a ......., it hurt so much that I couldn't hold back the tears, as hard as I was trying, as there are so many other people watching - tough. Shirley apologized again for hurting me - I just wanted to get out of there and she knew it. So she does a saline push before she takes the IV out and wraps my hand - really tight. I think she was having an 'off' day - it happens. The poor guy across from me got it far worse than I did - and she made him tear up and he struck me as the type that didn't admit pain easily.

So chatting with Dr Okun - he's pretty confident that I'm having an allergic reaction to the chemo drugs, but not enough of a reaction to stop using the drugs - again keeping the end result we want in mind. So the whole skin rash, mouth and lymph inflammation will probably continue as long as I'm on the chemo and hopefully, GO AWAY!
He told me, "I'm such a trooper!" I don't feel much like a trooper - I feel pretty beat up right now. I come in next week for a blood check and probably another Procrit shot - I told him I really missed Phyllis and that I hoped that she'd be back next week. But, the good news - I don't have a chemo treatment next week - I get a week off before I start on the last 6 doses! And I'm now 3/4 of the way through chemo!
Dave took me home and I put on my pajamas, took off my wig, put on my soft hat that my girlfriend, Peggy hand knitted for me - its so soft and warm, put on my jacket - I'm really cold and ate dinner - fish tacos with guacamole - really hit the spot - Dave said he was going to keep an eye on me, as I was looking really sleepy during dinner - he didn't want my head to hit my plate when I fell asleep - I do feel tired, but the throbbing in my left arm will keep me awake, that is until I take a Tylenol PM - which will be about now.

Did I mention that I'm 3/4 of the way done, only a 1/4 left on chemo - only 6 doses left!

posted by Holly @ 6:14 PM