Here we are again plodding our way through another bitterly cold day. Goll-durn it, won't this winter ever end?
I in particular am anxious to get to the warmer weather. This week's chemo was the triple-threat: Leucovorin, Fluorouracin, and Oxaliplatin. And the side effects of the Oxaliplatin have been much stronger than they were last time. Thank heavens I only get it every other week!
As you may remember, Monday started out overcast but not terrible, with a bit of wind. Dr. Cutie had warned me about the side effects of the Oxalplatin, sensitivity to cold in the extremities (hands and feet) being the worst one. He also recommended that I buy a balaclava to wear because a gust of cold air going down the throat can cause it to seize up and close, making you feel like you can't breathe. Well, I haven't experienced that yet, but on Monday after chemo, when I stepped out into the wind, my eyes went all weird, almost like my eyelids and eyeballs were suddenly not under my control anymore. It was the strangest sensation!
Thank heavens my folks were with me. I couldn't have made it back to the car without taking mom's arm and letting her lead me because I couldn't see, really, I couldn't focus! I just kept my head tucked down and my eyes half-closed and let her guide me.
Guess I oughta buy me a set of winter goggles to go with the balaclava!
After we got home, the other side effects of the Ox. kicked in - my hands started to seize up, first the left a few times, then the right a few times, then both together. It was actually quite funny when both hands quit working. I was trying to make hot chocolate for us all, went to pick up a spoon and my right hand just all curled up on itself. Then I tried to straighten my right hand with my left, and the left thumb curled right into my palm. I was stuck! Mom had to come rescue me, straighten my hands out, and finish making the hot chocolate. I had a good laugh over that because it was just ridiculous, me standing in the middle of the kitchen with two hands that wouldn't straighten out.
Fortunately, the effects of the Ox. do wear off. The hand seizures seem to be pretty much gone but the sensitivity to cold is still there. I have also noticed that when my hands are just cool - not cold - and I put any pressure at all on them, the pins and needles effect kicks in. The effects last time didn't all wear off at once. It seemed that I would have a day with a few episodes of pins and needles, the next day I would have none, and then the day after that it would be back again. In all it took about a week for the side effects to completely diseappear.
I just want to be sure you all make note that when my hands are bad, I can barely type. I have tried to do a blog update a couple of times since Monday afternoon but between the seizing and the pins and needles, it was simply not possible. Also, I can only type for a certain length of time before the pins and needles kick in because my computer room is on the cool side. So if you have emailed me and not got a response, it isn't because I'm ignoring you - my hands aren't behaving.
The next two weeks are my chemo-vacation weeks. I go for a CT scan on March 6, then a visit with Dr. Cutie on March 12. I will be sure to keep y'all posted about what's going on.
I am sure hoping the weather forecasters have next week's forecast right. The colder it is outside, the worse my hands feel, so I am sort of housebound when it's really cold like it is today. Even with really heavy mittens the cold seeps through. I can hardly wait for days when the temperature is above or near freezing and I can get out into the sunshine.
-- Lori
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Guinea Pig Reports . . .
I just got back from my appointment with Dr. Cutie. He wanted to see me today basically to find out how Guinea Pig Patient is doing with the new chemotherapy regime.
So I reported on all the side effects I have had, none of which have been very bad, and reported a few side effects that may or may not be from the chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy side effects:
After the Fluorouracin - diarrhea, tiredness
After the Oxaliplatin - nausea, lower appetite, sensitivity to cold (tingly fingers), tiredness, dopiness (may or may not be a side effect of chemo; might be guinea pig's natural state)
Possible chemotherapy side effect:
After the Flurouracin - weepiness
The weepiness is a new one, started this week right after my chemotherapy treatment on Tuesday. It's really stupid and embarrassing, but I am crying at the drop of a hat and am starting to get dehydrated! I had to look up the word "primordial" last night because I was unsure of its exact meaning, and it made me cry! I mean, how stupid is that????
Otherwise, I am tolerating the chemicals very well and Dr. Cutie is very pleased. The fluid buildup around my organs has dropped considerably since I started the new regime and the doc has asked me to continue measuring my circumference so we can see if it goes away completely. We also need to see if the buildup will return at all during my two week vacation from chemotherapy.
I am scheduled for a CT scan on March 6. Usually, a CT or MRI wouldn't be done until after a couple of cycles of chemo had passed but because I'm the guinea pig, they are wanting to monitor the size of the tumor very closely. I got a hoot out of the instructions for this CT scan: It is preferable to wear clothing with no buttons, zippers or snaps. If I comply with this, I'll be going to the scan in my granny nightgown, because it's about the only thing I own that doesn't have a button, zipper or snap! Maybe I'll just go naked and wrapped in a blanket. It would save some time changing into a hospital gown. HAHAHAHAHA!
Did anybody besides me notice how beautiful the sky is today? If you didn't, make sure to get outside and see what a bright, intense blue it is today. Then find yourself a little sunny nook guarded from the wind and notice how strong the sun is getting. It may still be cool outside, but spring is just around the corner. The spring equinox, the first day of spring, is just four weeks from tomorrow.
-- Lori
So I reported on all the side effects I have had, none of which have been very bad, and reported a few side effects that may or may not be from the chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy side effects:
After the Fluorouracin - diarrhea, tiredness
After the Oxaliplatin - nausea, lower appetite, sensitivity to cold (tingly fingers), tiredness, dopiness (may or may not be a side effect of chemo; might be guinea pig's natural state)
Possible chemotherapy side effect:
After the Flurouracin - weepiness
The weepiness is a new one, started this week right after my chemotherapy treatment on Tuesday. It's really stupid and embarrassing, but I am crying at the drop of a hat and am starting to get dehydrated! I had to look up the word "primordial" last night because I was unsure of its exact meaning, and it made me cry! I mean, how stupid is that????
Otherwise, I am tolerating the chemicals very well and Dr. Cutie is very pleased. The fluid buildup around my organs has dropped considerably since I started the new regime and the doc has asked me to continue measuring my circumference so we can see if it goes away completely. We also need to see if the buildup will return at all during my two week vacation from chemotherapy.
I am scheduled for a CT scan on March 6. Usually, a CT or MRI wouldn't be done until after a couple of cycles of chemo had passed but because I'm the guinea pig, they are wanting to monitor the size of the tumor very closely. I got a hoot out of the instructions for this CT scan: It is preferable to wear clothing with no buttons, zippers or snaps. If I comply with this, I'll be going to the scan in my granny nightgown, because it's about the only thing I own that doesn't have a button, zipper or snap! Maybe I'll just go naked and wrapped in a blanket. It would save some time changing into a hospital gown. HAHAHAHAHA!
Did anybody besides me notice how beautiful the sky is today? If you didn't, make sure to get outside and see what a bright, intense blue it is today. Then find yourself a little sunny nook guarded from the wind and notice how strong the sun is getting. It may still be cool outside, but spring is just around the corner. The spring equinox, the first day of spring, is just four weeks from tomorrow.
-- Lori
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
And the Drugs Keep Comin' . . .
Since Monday was Louis Riel Day, CancerCare was closed and I had my chemotherapy yesterday.
I would much, much rather have my chemo on Mondays. I had forgotten that Tuesdays and Fridays are children's chemo days, so not only was the treatment centre very busy catching up on Monday's chemo treatments for adults, there were several little children being treated as well. There is a special area for the children to receive their chemo and it's really very neat, kind of like an indoor treehouse with toys and activity areas and cool stuff for kids to play with. However, the sound of the children comes through into the adult treatment area and it can be heart-rending. One poor child cried and screamed for the entire three hours I was there; it made me feel so sad for her and for her parents and made what I'm going through feel much less like a burden. At least I'm an adult and I can deal with this chemotherapy rationally and with fortitude. A child, especially a wee little one, only knows the pain and the sickness is coming again and can't understand why it has to happen.
I am so thankful my kids never had to go through anything like that.
Anyway, 'nuff o'that. My own chemotherapy seems to be going fine. Last week's treatment definitely had more side effects that put some crimps in my life, but there was nothing to terrible to deal with. The Oxaliplatin made me more nauseated than any of the other drugs, but the antinausea pills seemed to work quite well. The most distressing side effect was the pins and needles effect when I touched anything cold - what a strange sensation! - but that went away after about three days. This week's chemo is the easy stuff and I'll get Oxaliplatin again next week, then I get two weeks of no chemotherapy (yippee!).
The black dog has not shown up yet either, which is good news.
I see Dr. Cutie on Thursday this week. I will be able to report that the new chemo drugs seem to be having an effect on the fluid buildup around my organs. I have been measuring my waist every night before bed and my circumference has dropped from about 33 inches down to about 31 inches. There is still some fluid there but it is definitely decreasing gradually and I'm not feeling like I'm about ready to give birth at any moment. Just being able to take deeper breaths is making me feel better, especially when I have to cough or sneeze. It's darned hard to cough when you can't completely fill your lungs, all you get is a weeny little "hack-hack" that doesn't do much at all.
On the home front, everyone here is doing fine. I haven't been out to see Bear since my last trip but I hope to get out when the weather warms up a few more degrees.
To everyone at the board office that signed my Valentine's Card, thank you! I loved it and the flowers. Thanks so much!
-- Lori
I would much, much rather have my chemo on Mondays. I had forgotten that Tuesdays and Fridays are children's chemo days, so not only was the treatment centre very busy catching up on Monday's chemo treatments for adults, there were several little children being treated as well. There is a special area for the children to receive their chemo and it's really very neat, kind of like an indoor treehouse with toys and activity areas and cool stuff for kids to play with. However, the sound of the children comes through into the adult treatment area and it can be heart-rending. One poor child cried and screamed for the entire three hours I was there; it made me feel so sad for her and for her parents and made what I'm going through feel much less like a burden. At least I'm an adult and I can deal with this chemotherapy rationally and with fortitude. A child, especially a wee little one, only knows the pain and the sickness is coming again and can't understand why it has to happen.
I am so thankful my kids never had to go through anything like that.
Anyway, 'nuff o'that. My own chemotherapy seems to be going fine. Last week's treatment definitely had more side effects that put some crimps in my life, but there was nothing to terrible to deal with. The Oxaliplatin made me more nauseated than any of the other drugs, but the antinausea pills seemed to work quite well. The most distressing side effect was the pins and needles effect when I touched anything cold - what a strange sensation! - but that went away after about three days. This week's chemo is the easy stuff and I'll get Oxaliplatin again next week, then I get two weeks of no chemotherapy (yippee!).
The black dog has not shown up yet either, which is good news.
I see Dr. Cutie on Thursday this week. I will be able to report that the new chemo drugs seem to be having an effect on the fluid buildup around my organs. I have been measuring my waist every night before bed and my circumference has dropped from about 33 inches down to about 31 inches. There is still some fluid there but it is definitely decreasing gradually and I'm not feeling like I'm about ready to give birth at any moment. Just being able to take deeper breaths is making me feel better, especially when I have to cough or sneeze. It's darned hard to cough when you can't completely fill your lungs, all you get is a weeny little "hack-hack" that doesn't do much at all.
On the home front, everyone here is doing fine. I haven't been out to see Bear since my last trip but I hope to get out when the weather warms up a few more degrees.
To everyone at the board office that signed my Valentine's Card, thank you! I loved it and the flowers. Thanks so much!
-- Lori
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A Long-Overdue Blog Entry . . . .
Wow! Have I ever been slipping when it comes to updating my blog!
I have to apologize for that. Things have been a little hectic and weird around here. Anyway, since it's been a while, let's start where I left off with the last blog entry or two.
On my first January 30th post, I blithely wished everyone a good weekend and hoped everyone could get out and enjoy the warmer weather. What a joke that was! The Fates justly punished me, though, by making sure I was out in the country when the wild wind and snow hit, and that I was driving through the worst of it. Lucky me. That Saturday morning, Younger Daughter and I went out to visit my sister and bro-in-law. Here's a picture from that morning.
Since it was so beautiful out, we had a good time messing with the animals. I had wanted to get on the road home around 11:30, but my sister was making cinnamon buns and offered to give us some if we just waited half an hour or so until they were done. Well, how can you pass up free homemade cinnamon buns? In the half hour we waited - in fact, in the last five minutes - the weather went from sunny with a breeze to whiteout.
Well, what to do? Wait a bit and see if it clears up at all, or make a run for it? I decided to make a run for it and headed for home. It wasn't too terrible once we got on the main road south to Winnipeg; in fact, after the first fifteen minutes or so the snow lightened up so we could see a lot better. Once we got near Winnipeg, it changed from snow to light rain. The wind was pretty vicious all the way and it blew my little car around. Good thing the highways didn't ice up really quickly or I probably would have been blown into the ditch!
Anyway, we made it home, and I spent the rest of the weekend cursing Mother Nature and her nasty sense of humor.
I started the new chemotherapy regimen on Monday, February 2. The first new drug I was given was Leukovorin; it's administered by infusion and has basically no side effects. Its purpose is to improve the effect of the second new drug, Fluorouracin. This second drug is given over a 24-hour period via a pump that I have to wear in a fanny pack. My biggest concern with the pump was sleeping because I tend to toss and turn a lot, but I made it through Monday night/Tuesday morning without getting tangled up in the line.
I was also pleasantly surprised that neither drug seemed to have any serious side effect on me last week. Aside from feeling tired and sometimes sleepy, I felt pretty good all last week.
This week, I went through the same thing with the addition of Oxaliplatin, which was administered at the same time and by the same infusion as the Leukovorin. This drug has side effects. Dr. Cutie stressed that the main side effect for Oxaliplatin is sensitivity to cold, causing tingling in the hands and feet, and some other effects on the nerves in those areas. Well, he wasn't kidding! I was quite shocked Monday afternoon after chemo treatment when I used an unmittened hand to picked up a shovel out in the yard and immediately began to feel needles thrusting into my fingertips! Yikes! It took a few minutes for the needles to go away, too. Just cold air will induce the effect, so I have been very careful to wear good, warm mitts and to avoid the cold air as much as posible. Today that side-effect seems to be pretty much gone.
Another effect of the Oxaliplatin that I noticed Monday afternoon was what I can only describe as painless cramping. You know when you get a cramp or muscle knot in your hand that causes your thumb or fingers to curl into your palm? That's basically what happened to my left hand - the thumb sucked in toward the palm of my hand and I had to use my right hand to pull it back into position and then hold it there until the cramp dissipated. The really weird bit is that it was completely painless! On Tuesday, the same thing happened with my right hand. These cramps only last a few minutes, thank heavens!
So, the new chemo regimen is a bit more complex than the last one, and it does have some different side effects. I believe that as we move through the chemo cycles, there will be more side effects that show up, but for now I'm feeling pretty good. I know a lot of you have been very concerned about my least-favorite companion, the black dog. So far, he hasn't shown up and I don't think he will show up until the chemo drugs accumulate in my body enough to mess with my mind. I also have mom and dad here to help keep him at bay if he does come sniffing around.
That's about all I have to say for now. I'm not even going to start talking about the weather except to say it's been beastly!
Oh, I did want to mention the book I'm reading right now - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Greg Mortenson builds schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and this is one book that y'all really should read! Thanks, E. S., for lending it to me!
Take care out there!
-- Lori
I have to apologize for that. Things have been a little hectic and weird around here. Anyway, since it's been a while, let's start where I left off with the last blog entry or two.
On my first January 30th post, I blithely wished everyone a good weekend and hoped everyone could get out and enjoy the warmer weather. What a joke that was! The Fates justly punished me, though, by making sure I was out in the country when the wild wind and snow hit, and that I was driving through the worst of it. Lucky me. That Saturday morning, Younger Daughter and I went out to visit my sister and bro-in-law. Here's a picture from that morning.
Since it was so beautiful out, we had a good time messing with the animals. I had wanted to get on the road home around 11:30, but my sister was making cinnamon buns and offered to give us some if we just waited half an hour or so until they were done. Well, how can you pass up free homemade cinnamon buns? In the half hour we waited - in fact, in the last five minutes - the weather went from sunny with a breeze to whiteout.
Well, what to do? Wait a bit and see if it clears up at all, or make a run for it? I decided to make a run for it and headed for home. It wasn't too terrible once we got on the main road south to Winnipeg; in fact, after the first fifteen minutes or so the snow lightened up so we could see a lot better. Once we got near Winnipeg, it changed from snow to light rain. The wind was pretty vicious all the way and it blew my little car around. Good thing the highways didn't ice up really quickly or I probably would have been blown into the ditch!
Anyway, we made it home, and I spent the rest of the weekend cursing Mother Nature and her nasty sense of humor.
I started the new chemotherapy regimen on Monday, February 2. The first new drug I was given was Leukovorin; it's administered by infusion and has basically no side effects. Its purpose is to improve the effect of the second new drug, Fluorouracin. This second drug is given over a 24-hour period via a pump that I have to wear in a fanny pack. My biggest concern with the pump was sleeping because I tend to toss and turn a lot, but I made it through Monday night/Tuesday morning without getting tangled up in the line.
I was also pleasantly surprised that neither drug seemed to have any serious side effect on me last week. Aside from feeling tired and sometimes sleepy, I felt pretty good all last week.
This week, I went through the same thing with the addition of Oxaliplatin, which was administered at the same time and by the same infusion as the Leukovorin. This drug has side effects. Dr. Cutie stressed that the main side effect for Oxaliplatin is sensitivity to cold, causing tingling in the hands and feet, and some other effects on the nerves in those areas. Well, he wasn't kidding! I was quite shocked Monday afternoon after chemo treatment when I used an unmittened hand to picked up a shovel out in the yard and immediately began to feel needles thrusting into my fingertips! Yikes! It took a few minutes for the needles to go away, too. Just cold air will induce the effect, so I have been very careful to wear good, warm mitts and to avoid the cold air as much as posible. Today that side-effect seems to be pretty much gone.
Another effect of the Oxaliplatin that I noticed Monday afternoon was what I can only describe as painless cramping. You know when you get a cramp or muscle knot in your hand that causes your thumb or fingers to curl into your palm? That's basically what happened to my left hand - the thumb sucked in toward the palm of my hand and I had to use my right hand to pull it back into position and then hold it there until the cramp dissipated. The really weird bit is that it was completely painless! On Tuesday, the same thing happened with my right hand. These cramps only last a few minutes, thank heavens!
So, the new chemo regimen is a bit more complex than the last one, and it does have some different side effects. I believe that as we move through the chemo cycles, there will be more side effects that show up, but for now I'm feeling pretty good. I know a lot of you have been very concerned about my least-favorite companion, the black dog. So far, he hasn't shown up and I don't think he will show up until the chemo drugs accumulate in my body enough to mess with my mind. I also have mom and dad here to help keep him at bay if he does come sniffing around.
That's about all I have to say for now. I'm not even going to start talking about the weather except to say it's been beastly!
Oh, I did want to mention the book I'm reading right now - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Greg Mortenson builds schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and this is one book that y'all really should read! Thanks, E. S., for lending it to me!
Take care out there!
-- Lori
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