Thankfully this trip to the city was far less eventful than the last trip. My only hiccup was my GPS refused to work - no idea why, but suddenly my charging port is not working. So I had to drive into the city "blind". Which was fine on marked highways. It became more of a challenge once I reached Edmonton and had to navigate through unfamiliar streets to find the apartment we were staying at. Even though I had travelled into the city many times, I still find the streets confusing, and I rely very heavily on my GPS. So while I know general layouts, and have a general idea of orientation, getting on and off highways and knowing correct exits - that's what my GPS is for! But, nonetheless, I made it here safe and sound.
The apartment itself is perfect - lovely location, beautiful views, and a short drive to the hospital.
But enough about that - chemotherapy and how it is going to affect my life. This sounded like a fun filled day to be had. First up was a visit to the lab to get some blood work drawn. I will be getting weekly blood work done prior to chemo, so I'm learning to suck up the fear of needles and get on with it. I'm also learning to not tell them which is my best vein - i've been finding that as soon as I tell them my perfect vein, they blow it. So I'm learning to shut up. (not an easy feat for me, as those of you who know me well will know!) Something new I learned - because they'll be doing so much blood work, plus the IV for the chemo every week, they try to use the little veins, not the big obvious ones, so that way if they lose a vein, you still have plenty of other ones to look at. So I was most surprised when the technician took blood from the smallest of veins on the outside of my arm. Cool! Unfortunately, the next morning, I did have a nasty looking bruise there, so I guess it wasn't such a great poke after all. Sigh.
Next on the list was a visit with the chemotherapy oncologist. First up, a trip to the scales - another 2lbs down (woohoo for the cancer diet!) which I was told was not a good thing. They don't want me to lose any weight during treatment. Are they serious?? Thankfully my height didn't drop this time too. Then the nurse wasn't sure if the doctor would want to exam me, so I was told to change into the sexy blue gown - just in case. Yay. The nurse this time was brilliant - she actually wanted to hear the answers to the questions she asked, and she took her time to explain things that I was unsure about. Then it was time for the doctor - again, lovely lovely person. She was so clear about everything. She made it very clear what the plan would be and what she expected my side effects to be.
So, the plan. 5 doses of Cisplatin. She said that the cisplatin works well with the radiation, and the plan is for the chemo to damage the cells enough for the radiation to get in there and blast the crap out of it. So the chemo helps the radiation work better. Yep, I'm all for that! Bring it on. The side effects - she said first up - you will not lose your hair with this drug. Thank bloody god. Ok, so I know if the big scheme of things, a little bit of hair is a small price to pay for saving my life. But geez, this is my HAIR! I'm not a vain person - I don't have the supermodel body, I way below average height, I could nit pick all my faults all day long. But I've always been totally superficial and vain about my hair. I'm not ready to part with my hair. So hearing that this is not an issue at all - it was a huge relief. (on the downside, I was kind of actually looking forward to guilting all my family into shaving their heads for support....wonder where I could find a bald cap....hehehe)
So the biggest problem I'm going to have is nausea and vomiting. Joy. Of all the bodily functions we've been blessed with - vomiting is my LEAST favourite. I hate vomit. I refuse to vomit. Hell, I'll even tell my patients to not vomit in my presence! I'll tell them to suck it up and hold it for the next shift (and surprisingly, many do try their best! ) Even my children know not to vomit! So being told I'm going to be spending then next few months in vomit city?? Ugh! Can I trade this side effect for the hair loss instead? Thankfully she gave me a prescription for a swag load of anti-puking drugs, which I took directly to the pharmacy to fill! My drawer is now filled with all the anti-puke drugs a chemo girl could want!
So after that lovely visit, I was then sent off to chemo class. A fun filled hour learning all about chemo and how to live with the side effects. Basically, the nurse spent 90 minutes (oops, he went over time, sorry about that....jerk) going through all the information pamphlets that were in our package. So I didn't learn anything that I couldn't already read for myself. Sigh. It was a struggle to stay awake for it really. The only entertainment was the stupidity of some questions from the others in the group (this is probably a warning sign that I really should not be involved in any group therapy type of program) At one point, he mentioned the importance of handwashing during chemo, to protect ourselves from bugs, and the importance of using hand sanitizer while out in public. I won't mention ALL the questions asked - but my all time favourite was one lovely lady who asked if using baby diaper wipes would be a suitable alternative to alcoholic hand sanitizer. After he said, most likely not, because there is no alcohol in wipes, and the point is to remove germs from your hands, not just 'clean' them, she then went on to argue that they SHOULD be good enough, because they're good enough to use on baby's bum, so why not hands?? The next brilliant question (I suspect it was the same woman) was to do with using digital thermometers (apparently I need to be paranoid about getting any kind of temperature).
Crazy Lady - how long do i keep the thermometer in my mouth?
Nurse - until it beeps.
CL - But it doesn't beep.
Nurse - well, just follow the directions for your particular thermometer.
CL - well if i had the directions, i wouldn't be asking you!
Nurse - well, most digital thermometers take 15 - 30 seconds.
CL - are you sure? Isn't it more like 5 minutes?
Nurse (trying so hard to remain calm) - well, you could keep it there for a whole minute to be sure if you're concerned.
Lady - seriously, just go buy a new thermometer! Geez!!!
Finally, he was done, and we could escape. By now my head was spinning with information overload, but I still had to go back to the chemo reception and get my written plan for taking my drugs. So I now have a lovely plan on what drug to take when to minimize the effects of the poisonous crap they'll be loading me up with. Does it get any more fun than this?
Small perk of the day - there was no parking when we arrived, so i had to park in the adjoining underground parking building (read - expensive parking) which is a delightful $4/hour. When we came out, the pay machine was out of order, and you could only use credit card to leave the lot. However the guy working on the machine said if you're paying cash, just call the help button and explain the situation. So I decided to pay cash - pushed the help button, explained the pay machine was out of order, and he opened the gate and said have a nice day. Woohoo! $12 of parking for free. Thank you, don't mind if i do! I looked at getting a parking pass - what a rip off. It is only for the outside parking, not the building, and it doesn't guarantee you a park. So I could pay $100 for a monthly pass, but still have to pay for parking anyway if the parks are all full. Screw that. And of course, being in the middle of a major university, plus two other hospitals in the area, parking is a nightmare. Oh well, this is going to become my daily joy :)
So, one day down. Several more to go. Next stop - the beginning of radiation treatment!
No comments:
Post a Comment