Chemo: week 2 summary

It is now Tuesday morning (August 23, 2010); the end of  my second week of chemo.  It's been a good week and we've been on vacation (up north) until yesterday so I haven't kept up on the daily events.  Here is the past week in summary: 

After feeling really good on Monday, I was a little apprehensive about the second treatment, last Tuesday. It was supposed to be a much shorter time at the chemo place but by the time we got through all the steps it took about 4 hours. A lot more waiting around this time where the first visit was bang, bang, bang, you're done (5 hours but it moved along).

Our regular doctor had duty at the hospital so we met with another member of the team. My tests were all good and my blood counts had only dropped to the minimum normal range. She said they would continue to drop with the second treatment of Gemcenobin today and that I should continue to watch out for infection or contagion. We asked if we could travel 'up north' later in the week and she said it was okay; "... as long as I don't do anything fun." I loved that. She thought we were going to 'the cabin' or playing on the lakes because she said I shouldn't drink lake water, etc.

This week was billed as being an easier week because I was only getting the Gemcenobin and not the Carboplatin.  The Gemzee only takes 45 minutes to administer (vs. 2 hrs. for the platnum). But with the anti-nausea prep I-V's still take an hour. As the Gemzee was going in I was hit by a feeling of deep fatigue. Like all the crappy feeling of the previoius week landing right on my chest (whole body). Nurse Kim said this was probably the steroids because you usually don't feel the chemo right away like this. I didn't argue but I still believe it was the chemo.

We stopped to eat lunch on the way home. We sat outside at the resturant and I got a little chilled. I had the sniffles pretty bad before bed and I blame that on being chilled. Sniffles passed as soon as I layed down and never returned.

I was still knocked down when we got home so I layed down for a nap. After an hour or so I awoke to  intense panic attack. I have claustrophobia and I have a real hard time in closed places (airplanes, back seats of cars, trains, carnival rides). This was the same feeling only the 'danger' had been injected inside my body and there was no way to get out of the situation. (The last time I tried to fly, I made them go back to the terminal and let me off the plane.) This was a desperate feeling but I have read that you need to distract yourself to end the attack so I grabbed my iPod and went for a walk. I listened to White Stripes (LOUD). Some of those songs I like to sing along, so I did. I must have been a sight to see - but it worked, so I don't care.  I don't know if the panic was from the chemo or  the steroids (for nausea) but I was able to keep it from returning the rest of the night ( by dodging any little feelings before they can take hold). I didn't have any trouble getting to sleep and slept well through the night.

I had that crappy feeling the first and second day. It's kind of a warm (not a comfortable warm) feeling in the core of my body (and head too, I guess). It's nearly nauseous but not quite there enough to take another pill or take a Queasy Drops. Eating helps - but only while eating - so I try to eat small amounts, often. It's like a weight that's pressing everywhere. I was only on the milder anti-nausea drug (Ondansetron) because nausea isn't one of the big side effects for Gemzee. I still had some of the booster (Prochlorperazine) haven't needed it. summary

It's amazing how much energy you have when you feel good (or not as bad as you expect). I spent most of this time in my workshop; assembling, sanding and finishing on the fourth of a series of wood stools that I've been building. It's nice to have this piece-work to keep my mind focused on something else.

By Thursday I was feeling pretty good so we made the drive 'up north'. I was fine driving the first 2/3's of the 5 hour trip and then turned it over to Wife. I spent the rest of the week visiting relatives (some had driven from Arizona) and working on our tree farm.

I DID do some fun things but I didn't drink lake water. I did check on an experiment I did in planting trees this spring.

April: Transplanted Walnut with carpet

 We have an area on the farm has such rich soil so we've had a hard time getting the young trees to survive the competition with the grass. This spring I cut an old carpet into squares (2 - 3 foot square) and layed these around the newly transplanted Walnut.

June: Carpet providing mulch for young transplant

In June, I checked the progress and found all the seedlings had survived and were growing and the carpet was effectively holding the competing grass at bay.

August: Grass has draped over carpet but hasn't encroached on tree.

By mid August (this trip) the grass had draped over the carpet so that it looked like it had defeated the carpet when in fact the carpet was still holding the grass plants at bay and providing effective mulch for the growing tree.