chemo 1 of 6 occurs

It was a bit of a surprise when the phone rang two days ago, Monday, July 18th, at around one p.m. It was the booking office of the General Hospital. I had an appointment the next day for Chemo Education Class and an appointment Thursday, today, for chemotherapy itself.


Very happily surprised, I was, because it shows what great hands I am in with Dr.Paul Wheatley-Price. You see today is the exact six week anniversary of my mastectomy/lymphectomy. You can't start chemo till the wound heals, which, typically is "six to eight wks after surgery". I had 26 stitches (dissolving stitches) plus extensive cutting and sewing underneath (or is that sawing? Lol). The largest tumour in my breast was only a third of a centimetre from my pectoral muscle by the time I got to surgery on June 7th, 2011. This aggressive cancer grew seven tenths of a centimetre closer to the pec by the time I had the surgery since the scan was taken a month earlier. (Dr Price had told me that contrary to normal cancer cells that double in size every 90 days, mine grow faster. My cancer, found by me in the last week (a wk before Easter) of April, was removed June 7th.) Very happy Paul (the doc) has gotten me into chemo so fast.


I mentioned in my last blog stuff had to be ruled out. The node on my collar bone/sternum area looks suspicious to the radiation oncologist and he wanted to biopsy it when I met him on the 11th of July. Paul and I both said the puncturing of the body so close to chemo is crazy cos it cannot heal.


Chemo eats the healing cells that are dividing in mitosis to close your wound. Paul went ahead with the chemo. In retrospect they should have booked me to meet the radiation oncologist much earlier while i was healing from the surgery. I could have had the chest biopsy after a CT of the thorax..upper chest ...within the first weeks after my surgery. Oh well. I just got a call right now, in fact, saying the CT is gonna be Monday August 2nd. They offered me one this coming week but then I would miss out on the cottage.


Good news. I don’t have to blame this on a medical mistake (see blog no. 1). I have dense breasts. I will give you the link soon that explains that nobody gets a proper diagnosis via mammography if you have dense breasts. There is a new technology now that will make mammography obsolete. Trouble is there are trillions spent on these machines in all the hospitals.


I am off to chemo now. Talk to you later.


Later


Christine was an absolute angel of mercy today. She spent seven hours with me today. Brought me brunch and we had our Subway sandwiches at my dining table before leaving for chemo. I was an emotional wreck. We talked about the head/instinct war inside me. Head knows I have only a twenty five percent chance to live five years if I don’t do it. Instinct is not to put toxic chemicals in the body. I broke down and got verklempt in the car but soon we were harmonizing to Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams at the top of our lungs in the car. Today was the hottest day of the year. The forecast was for 37 degrees Celsius (106 Fahrenheit) plus humidex. It was 47 degrees Celsius today.

I was terrified. Nice nurses. I lay on a hospital bed in a “pod” (open room divided by office dividers). The nice nurses poked me and ground the needle under my skin five times. Twice they found a good vein, set up the salt water i.v. and then my vein exploded. One nurse said she had used up her turns at it and was forced to give it to another nurse. Same thing happened to her. They twisted the needle this way and that under the skin and I had to squeeze Chris’ hand hard to cope. Finally they set it up and the vein held.

Next time or so, they told me, I would have a day operation to install a port under my skin directly into the artery nearer my heart, up on a shoulder, as the chemo eats the walls of your veins, makes ‘em too weak for the chemo.
First of my three chemos they pushed into the i.v. was the red devil.

They screwed it into the hanging i.v. port where it met and mixed with the salt water. The red devil (the E in FEC) is responsible for hair loss, which will occur 2.5 wks from now. The next one the nurse had to push into the i.v. bag slowly, via a syringe. This one was the F in FEC. Fleuro. Diarrhea, nausea causer.

The last one was the C. It was hung like the first and pushed into a machine that punctures the tubing and mixes with the water. I had to crunch ice from two freezies in my mouth as stats show fewer mouth sores will occur later. It gives u a sinus flu and by the end I felt my eyes and nose water and tingle. We arrived at 12:50 and left around 4:30. They’d had to do my blood levels first, which from now on I must see to myself within forty eight hours of starting chemo. My next chemo is August 11^th , exactly three weeks to the day from today.


Your blood’s white blood cells need to be at a certain level, and your platelets, too, to prevent clotting. You need to phone the hospital or a dynaclinic lab and get a pre chemo blood test each time. If you are not well enough, blood wise, they push the chemo date back till you have recovered from the last chemo.


We went out into the peasoup heat outside and drove ....and got lost....tee hee...and finally through rush hour traffic (we drove by the mangled bluesfest stage) to the pharmacy where we waited for my five prescriptions on four prescription pad papers to be filled. Bought tons  of other stuff.


It would cost 2500.00 for me to buy the anti nausea drug that works.Chris drove me home and I had water, snacks, and put on a Pre recorded Piers Morgan show in bed, lights off, blinds drawn. Nausea. Nausea. Nausea. A level never before encountered. Water. More water. Two different nausea drugs. Dave was beckoned to come in and lean on me and hold my hand (I feel better, like Temple Grandin, being squeezed under the stress of nausea.) Finally, could not take it anymore, and against Paul’s advice, put my finger in my mouth in the bathroom, and projectile vomited, yelling from behind the closed door to dave to STANDBY!!  


I felt instantly better. We lay with Eiger in the twilit sunroom on the big bed in there and I looked at the pretty flowers in the back garden while I made Dave read me from Time Magazine. Then I went to bed in the dark front bedroom and slept till 1:45 where I wakened and could not get back to sleep, not feeling too well.
I am not allowed to use the same toilet as Dave for 48 hours as my pee is full of dangerous chemicals and will be reddish pink for two days. Lid down, (dogs) bathroom door closed. (Like I asked him for twelve years. Lol)
Hungry but the thought of water, Ensure, or food makes me sick. Nurse coming tomorrow.

i hAs a SiMba GirLfrIend. Dont tell Jaidas.