Chemo is a strange beast and different for each type of cancer – different regimens, different side effects. For my non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, I am taking a cocktail called R-CHOP for short.
Rituximab
Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)
Hydoxydaunorubicin (doxorubicin or Adriamycin)
Oncovin (vincristine)
Prednisolone
When I had chemo for breast cancer, I also had to take Cytoxan along with another drug called Taxol. Notably, several documents I have seen on Cytoxan mention that there is a risk, although rare, of later developing blood cancers, like leukemia or lymphoma. Although my doctors are hesitant to say there is a link between my previous treatment and my current cancer, I do believe it is a distinct possibility. When I told my oncology nurse that I had been treated for breast cancer three years ago, she said, “Oh, secondary cancer.”
My first round of chemo took about 5 ½ hours, primarily because the Rituximab can cause an allergic reaction and has to be infused over 3 hours or so. To combat the possible allergic response, I have several additional drugs to take. For the first round only, I had to take dexamethosone, a steroid, the night before and the morning of chemo. Then, at chemo I started off with Benadryl before the Rituximab was infused. As it turned out, in the middle of my infusion, my mouth started to itch. As mentioned in my previous post, Benadryl by infusion makes you completely loopy, and I ended up getting a double dose. Wow!
The rest of the drugs don’t take that long. The Cytoxan is also infused but the other two, the vincristine and the Adriamycin, are injected straight from a large syringe (into my PICC line also, so no poke with that). The Adriamycin is bright red and turns your urine a lovely pink shade for the rest of the day.
My friend Renee was with me as she was when I had breast cancer. She’s a real trooper, especially since I know she doesn’t really like medical stuff. Then, I stayed with my friend Marci and family for five days while I was recovering. Thank goodness for caring friends.
Recovery from chemo is also different for everyone even given the same type of chemo, mostly because there are some rare side effects that some people get that others don’t. My weird side effect is that a couple days after chemo my jaw started to hurt every time I took my first few bites of a meal. Since it is always just when I begin to eat, I believe it is really my salivary glands that are the issue. Strangely, it stops after about three bites, but the first few bites are in the pain category of 8 on a scale of 1-10. Luckily, there’s the internet, so I was able to research my chemo drugs and found out that the culprit was the vincristine. Painkillers are the only thing that the doctors can prescribe, although cold packs helped a little when my jaw felt swollen for a couple of days. I also got “Magic Mouthwash” from the doctor. I don’t know exactly what’s in it, but that helps a bit. I have gotten some good advice from friends on complementary medicine and I’m going to look into that, too.
Luckily, for the most part, I do not have any nausea, which most people consider the hallmark of chemo. They have great anti-emetic drugs these days. I get Zofran (ondansetron) in pill form right before my treatment and then I take Reglan (metoclopramide). I only felt a little nausea when it turned out that the three days suggested to take the anti-emetics wasn’t long enough. I have to take it through the following Tuesday (about 7 days). Every day I bless all those people who participated in clinical trials to help develop anti-emetic drugs.
One of the unpleasant things I deal with is giving myself a shot of Neupogen, which helps keep up my white cell count, every day for seven days following chemo. It’s not the worst thing, but the first time it took a while to work up the nerve. I guess I can count it as a new skill in my repertoire.
Strangest of all for me is just having to deal with the medical process as a whole when I have otherwise been so healthy. In the past 20 years, other than for general check-ups, I have only gone to the doctor three times – once for a severe sore throat about 12 years ago and the two times that ultimately led to a cancer diagnosis. I am definitely not a hypochondriac. I have felt unnerved by all the tests, hospitalizations, medications, and regimens. Sometimes I just feel fed up and think – I want to be my old self! But you can’t really be your old self ever again when you go through something like this. Hopefully, you just use what you learn about yourself constructively and appreciate all the care and kindness you receive from others.
Rituximab
Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)
Hydoxydaunorubicin (doxorubicin or Adriamycin)
Oncovin (vincristine)
Prednisolone
When I had chemo for breast cancer, I also had to take Cytoxan along with another drug called Taxol. Notably, several documents I have seen on Cytoxan mention that there is a risk, although rare, of later developing blood cancers, like leukemia or lymphoma. Although my doctors are hesitant to say there is a link between my previous treatment and my current cancer, I do believe it is a distinct possibility. When I told my oncology nurse that I had been treated for breast cancer three years ago, she said, “Oh, secondary cancer.”
My first round of chemo took about 5 ½ hours, primarily because the Rituximab can cause an allergic reaction and has to be infused over 3 hours or so. To combat the possible allergic response, I have several additional drugs to take. For the first round only, I had to take dexamethosone, a steroid, the night before and the morning of chemo. Then, at chemo I started off with Benadryl before the Rituximab was infused. As it turned out, in the middle of my infusion, my mouth started to itch. As mentioned in my previous post, Benadryl by infusion makes you completely loopy, and I ended up getting a double dose. Wow!
The rest of the drugs don’t take that long. The Cytoxan is also infused but the other two, the vincristine and the Adriamycin, are injected straight from a large syringe (into my PICC line also, so no poke with that). The Adriamycin is bright red and turns your urine a lovely pink shade for the rest of the day.
My friend Renee was with me as she was when I had breast cancer. She’s a real trooper, especially since I know she doesn’t really like medical stuff. Then, I stayed with my friend Marci and family for five days while I was recovering. Thank goodness for caring friends.
Recovery from chemo is also different for everyone even given the same type of chemo, mostly because there are some rare side effects that some people get that others don’t. My weird side effect is that a couple days after chemo my jaw started to hurt every time I took my first few bites of a meal. Since it is always just when I begin to eat, I believe it is really my salivary glands that are the issue. Strangely, it stops after about three bites, but the first few bites are in the pain category of 8 on a scale of 1-10. Luckily, there’s the internet, so I was able to research my chemo drugs and found out that the culprit was the vincristine. Painkillers are the only thing that the doctors can prescribe, although cold packs helped a little when my jaw felt swollen for a couple of days. I also got “Magic Mouthwash” from the doctor. I don’t know exactly what’s in it, but that helps a bit. I have gotten some good advice from friends on complementary medicine and I’m going to look into that, too.
Luckily, for the most part, I do not have any nausea, which most people consider the hallmark of chemo. They have great anti-emetic drugs these days. I get Zofran (ondansetron) in pill form right before my treatment and then I take Reglan (metoclopramide). I only felt a little nausea when it turned out that the three days suggested to take the anti-emetics wasn’t long enough. I have to take it through the following Tuesday (about 7 days). Every day I bless all those people who participated in clinical trials to help develop anti-emetic drugs.
One of the unpleasant things I deal with is giving myself a shot of Neupogen, which helps keep up my white cell count, every day for seven days following chemo. It’s not the worst thing, but the first time it took a while to work up the nerve. I guess I can count it as a new skill in my repertoire.
Strangest of all for me is just having to deal with the medical process as a whole when I have otherwise been so healthy. In the past 20 years, other than for general check-ups, I have only gone to the doctor three times – once for a severe sore throat about 12 years ago and the two times that ultimately led to a cancer diagnosis. I am definitely not a hypochondriac. I have felt unnerved by all the tests, hospitalizations, medications, and regimens. Sometimes I just feel fed up and think – I want to be my old self! But you can’t really be your old self ever again when you go through something like this. Hopefully, you just use what you learn about yourself constructively and appreciate all the care and kindness you receive from others.
Posts
It is all very complicated. Did you ever wonder how they came up with these drug cocktails? I'm sending good thoughts your way. You are amazing.
ReplyDeleteNadine : You are so brave . Keep your good actitude and your faith in Good , he will never live your side-
ReplyDeleteBe brave , be stong , you will win this battle
Beatriz
Oh god, on hearing only i am getting scared. Really hats of to your braveness.
ReplyDelete