I started chemotherapy on Wednesday, September 23rd. Dr. L. had performed the bone marrow biopsy the day before. I have to say, that procedure was cake compared to the kidney biopsy I had a couple of years ago, and even that wasn’t all that bad. I know how fortunate I am to be blessed with an extremely high pain threshold. I also believe my nephrologist and Dr. L. are both exceedingly skillful, and that has to make a big difference.
At any rate, high pain threshold or not, the chemotherapy was horrific. In the chemo unit, I had an immediate bad reaction to one of the drugs. Three nurses came running, and they paged my oncologist and respiratory services. They got that under control quickly and skillfully, but I ended up being at the clinic from 9:00 – 4:30. At the end of the day, Dr. L. came to check on me again. After she left, I said to Terry, in my rather groggy state, “I’m in love with my doctor. . .”
Then, we spent the night in the emergency department because after vomiting once per hour during the early evening, things picked up and I ended up vomiting every 15 minutes for 7 hours. I broke blood vessels in my face and eyes, and had blood in my vomit.
The Day After Chemo
During each 15-minute cycle, I vomited, then had uncontrollable muscle spasms in my legs, then my breathing became faster as the nausea rose, until I vomited again. I was sweating profusely throughout, and had elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Thanks to the talented ER doc and nurses, the vomiting was finally basically under control around 4:00 a.m. Terry ended up teaching on 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I am praying that Dr. L. will allow me to do my next treatment as an inpatient. I cannot imagine going through that again if there are alternatives.
In addition, I don’t have a picc line yet (the first thing the ER nurse asked about), so when I woke up the next day, I had bruising and bandages on both hands, one wrist and the inside of both elbows. They had trouble in the ER because I was so dehydrated my veins disappeared. I also woke up with a very swollen face from all the broken blood vessels there.
Anyway, I’m feeling a little better each day, so that’s a good thing. The visiting nurse came Friday night to start my neupogen injections. She said I’ll probably feel crappy while I’m getting the injections and for one day afterward. Then I should start to feel better. I have to have the injections on days 3-10. The good thing is that I’m just tired and achy with a messed-up digestive system — much like a lupus flare. This is something I am very, very accustomed to, so while it might throw someone else for a loop, it’s not a big deal to me.
In the meantime, our friends continue to astonish me with their kindness, generosity and creativity. Assuming I survive this thing (and how could I not, with such phenomenal people on my side?), I will spend the rest of my life trying to repay this debt of kindness and love.
Livin' La Vida Lupie 