Against everyone's expectations, I tolerated the first round of chemo well. Everyone (including myself) assumed that I'd be more or less bed-ridden well before now. But so far, I'm still on my feet. Any kind of activity takes the breath from me and I still feel really stupid, but I'm self-sufficient for right now.
So everyone headed home for a while. It's time to get a little rest in anticipation of the next round. (that starts in a little under 2 weeks) I think that's when it will start getting a little rough. (but, obviously, I'm no good at prediciting such)
So, the question is: what now? I've got the better portion of 2 weeks before they hit me hard again. I'm on short-term disability from work, and I don't think I'd be any use if I tried to go back. (just paying bills this morning wore me down a bit--not to mention that my head is still foggy)
Don't worry--this isn't a plea for help or anything of the sort. It's just a very, very, very strange feeling to be at home this much. Not going to work after 11 years is taking some real adjustment. I'm sure I'll manage.
But I do realize that I haven't been doing my job of educating everyone on what's happening... (you know I get a kick out of that) So, here's some quick info:
Not all chemo is the same. Chemotherapy is the term for a type of drug that kills particular cells. Technically, the drugs they give me for treatment of Crohn's is chemo.
The treatment they've found that works best for testicular cancer is what they call "BEP". That's a combo of 3 drugs: Bleomycin, Etoposide and Cisplatin (platinum). Each does their own little thing.
The schedule they are administering it to me is as follows:
On day 22, it starts over. (3 weeks per "round") This Friday is day 15, so I'm heading back to the hospital for the morning. I'm doing a total of 3 of these "rounds" for a total of 9 weeks of treatment.
6 comments:
On Friday when you go back to the hospital will you be staying there again for a few days?
No, Friday is my day 15 Bleomycin treatment. It's literally like 15 minutes worth of meds dripped in. They don't even bother hooking up the IV pump--it just gravity-feeds.
So you just do it through the skin like when I charge my back? Lol.
So drip the meds and then back home. Any idea how long before they kick in?
Man, I wish it was like that. Because some of these meds irritate blood vessels, they use the bigger IV's. Those sting a bit going in...
I have no idea when it's going to hit hard. My guess is sometime during my next 5-day treatment. But that's just a guess.
Jerm and I think about you all the time and I say a prayer for you every night. My cousin has lukemia and has had a hard time when he went thru chemo and I am really glad to hear things are going better than everyone has expected.
And you are right.. Fuck cancer... YOU WIN!
Maybe it won't hit you hard at all? Some people really don't have a hard time with it and some people seem to really get knocked over. I've heard it's not at all like it used to be when it was really, really hard on the bod. It sounds to me like you are doing great!
I thought the same thing about being home when I was taking 12 weeks off... but geez. It's nice. And it flies by...
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