Early Chemo Report --  

First let me thank all of you who have been wishing me well.  I do appreciate it very much.

I started my first chemotherapy regimen about 12 hours ago by taking the "pre-chemo" anti-nausea drugs I'd been prescribed.  And part of the good news is that they worked . . . no nausea!

An hour later I was at the hospital for my first round of the IV chemo drug . . . although they first ran a "cocktail" of various other things through for about a half an hour to "prep" me for the main drug, which takes about two hours if there are none of the common complications (in which case it changes to a six-hour infusion).  More good news, I did not have any of these side effects.

Then they gave me the oral chemo drugs, which come in a fancy blister pack and showed me how to take them without there ever touching my skin.  I need to continue taking these every 12 hours for two weeks . . . then I get a week's rest until 21 days from now when the whole regimen repeats (on through 8 repetitions; a six-month course of treatment).

Now the "bad news".  One of the side effects of the IV drug is an adverse reaction to cool or cold temperatures.  I can't have cold beverages (I love iced tea . . . *sigh*. . .), nor even get anything out of the refrigerator.  I made the mistake of washing my hands is cool water and my hands went all tingly. While not really a "bad" thing, this is quite annoying . . . but supposedly this only lasts a few days.

What has knocked the stuffing out of me (so far) is the fatigue.  Even just standing up and walking a few steps has me huffing and puffing like crazy.  Again, not "threatening", it is extremely inconvenient.

I've just taken more of my anti-nausea medications, one of which has the side effect of a headache.  Not a terrible headache, just a mildly annoying one (and again this disappears after a few days for most people).  However it does get considerably more noticeable as I exert myself by walking more than a couple of steps . . . *sigh*.

I should point out that all chemotherapy regimens are designed depending upon where the cancer was located and the medical history of the patient.  For example the "cold effects" of the IV medication I got today is NOT a common response for most chemotherapy drugs.

Anyway, all-in-all not a bad first day, I think.

-- Jeff