And BJ Takes Round #2!

OK people, 2 down, 10 chemotherapy sessions to go!  I had my second session of chemo last Tuesday and the good news is that this round of treatment was exponentially easier on me physically and mentally than the first.  I can honestly say that there were times in the first week of treatment that I questioned how I could possibly survive the medicinal poisons they were injecting into me. Don't get me wrong, it has been no picnic but the weakness, irritability and other symptoms were definitely muted this time around. So, either my body is adapting OR the blood transfusion that I received the day after chemo did the damn trick. In which case I say, Bring on the Blood-Doping!

It has been brought to my attention that some of you would like a better description of what my treatment schedule looks like, with respect to drugs and duration so I will do my best to describe it as best I can.  I am on a cocktail of 4 different medications that are infused over a 46 hour period.  In addition to this cocktail, they run dexamesthasone and ondansatron first - they act to prevent nausea and inflammation. Then they run a combination of calcium/magnesium in order to reduce the possibility of numbness and cold sensitivity in my fingers, toes and throat.  After this the canser-killing begins:

• Oxaliplatin, a drug typically used in colorectal canser is infused

• Leucovorin which is used to increase the anti-canser effects of 5-FU (fluorouracil)

• Avastin which is a new wonder-drug used in metastatic colorectal canser - not actually a canser-killer, but it acts to block the supply of blood to the canser cells so the chemo can swoop in and kill them.  Thank goodness for medical insurance b/c it runs about $100G's a year.  

• 5-FU (there's a joke in there somewhere) is the drug that is then infused through a condom-in-a-baby-bottle-around-my-neck type of deal that kinda makes me look like a cyborg.  Not cool. Are you surprised that I prefer to hang at home rather than go out and about for those first 46 hours?

It all takes approximately 5 hours, which goes by surprisingly fast for me - I can't say the same for Kristie or Tim or Mar but they have been troopers.  I do this every two weeks and will do so for 3 months at which time they will do another CT scan to assess how well it is working. The expectation is that I will then have  ANOTHER 3 months of treatment at that point.  The good news is that I FEEL like it is working. And I LOOK like it is working - everyone that comes to see me say they were nervous about what they were going to find so let me say right now - other than being a little on the thin side - I look pretty good these days. So please don't worry that you are going to come over and find an emaciated mess on death's door.  I will endeavor to start snapping a few more photos and post them as proof.

On Wednesday, Dad took me back to RUH for the dreaded blood transfusion.  I was really worried about it simply because I thought I needed it because I was getting sicker. My nurse was phenomenal though and explained that transfusions are very, very common during chemo. She also said that within 24 hours I should feel like a new person and she was completely right. It took 4 hours to transfuse 2 pints of their finest red - giving Dad plenty of time to become the Cribbage King of the Cancer Care Unit. The highlight for me was when the lady in the next bed asked if I was a university student - HA! Now THAT's funny! She told me she thought I was 19.

The rest of my week was relatively quiet - lots of sleeping and lots of cuddling on the sofa with Bailey. A HUGE shout out to Jason and Dinner at Your Door for keeping me and my Dad so well fed and to my colleagues past and present for making it happen. You guys rock!  

On Saturday Pam (the Nistor-Twister as Dawn refers to her) drove in all the way from Edmonton to take care of me for basically 24 hours and give my Dad a break.  She was a god-send - my kitchen has never been so clean.  Amy was also in visiting on the weekend from Airdrie and I was lucky enough to get to see her a few times as well - she was ever-ready with Green Hornets from Booster Juice and stories from her recent tropical trips.

So the rest of my week will be spent eating as much as I can to try to gain a few more pounds and get prepared to do it all over again next week. I will be cheering on Tim from afar as he prepares to move into the new condo on Friday - wish I was there to help Darlin'. Remember - lift with your LEGS.

More thanks are needed to Mary, Linda, Linda, Patty and Michelle, the Gibson's and the Mackenzie's for the very thoughtful care packages this week.  I honestly do have the best friends on the planet...

And my newest hat, compliments of Matthew and Sherry Gibson...