ChemoTherapy - Session # 1

My husband, Steve and I met with the Oncolologist on March 2nd. The drug of choice for this particular cancer will be CarboPlatin and Taxotere. Also, I will be given an anti-nausea drip before the other drugs in order to control nausea. GREAT!

There will be 6 treatments - one every 21 days. We begin on Friday, March 4th. The doctor feels that implanting a "port" will not be necessary. That is good news. I guess my veins are good enough for the chemo to travel through my system.

The first treatment went well, up until 45 minutes left in the session. One of the nurses decided to increase the drip...maybe she wanted to go home early...I don't know. About 3-4 minutes later, I felt like my ears were on fire and ready to fall off. My husband said my face was red - like a bad sunburn. I immediately called for help and they rushed in an oxygen tank and gave me Benadryl. I guess I had a reaction to the increase of the drip. The Benadryl helped quickly.
The entire session took around 4 hours.

The weekend went OK..no nausea. Only side effect was a rash that appeared on my face (cheeks)...sort of like a flush. So, all in all, that wasn't too bad, right?

On Monday, had a PET/CT Scan scheduled in order to see if there are any cancer cells still floating around. Don't have the results yet.

Went back to work on Tuesday, March 8th. Worked all day Tuesday and Wednesday, but was EXHAUSTED on Wednesday afternoon. Almost fell asleep on the interstate during the drive home.

Also, on Wednesday after lunch I had a dull ache in my chest area near my esophogaus. Felt like the lunch I had eaten was "stuck". This feeling persisted all evening and the following morning. On Thursday, I called in to say I couldn't go into work cause I was a little dizzy and just felt "badly".

Just when you think it can't get any worse...