Feb 17 2010
Second Round of Chemo Today
Today was better than the first round so far. Due to the doctor being behind, we did not get out of there until after 3 pm. I ask them to give me the benedryl slower and the nurse told me that she could cut the dose in half (and it is optional to even take the drug). So I was tired enough to go to sleep but did not get as loopy.
When I got home, I had to eat a bunch of tums and crackers to soak up the acid because my stomache was gurlgling arleady. Dr. Ellis said he was sorry that I had all the acid last time. He was surprised that it had gotten as bad as it had. He said to take two prilosec a day to help that. He also gave me some steroid pills to take today and tomorrow to reduce nausea and other side effects.
There was hardly any place to sit – again. We got the last seat in the place. I ended up sitting next to a woman who lived in a town near me, Lower Burell. Her story was that she had lymphoma. She had been in and out of the ER for three years and no one could find anyting wrong with her. Her scans and blood work were clear. She was in pain and kept insisting that something was very wrong. So her doctors went in and did exploratory surgery. That is when they found it. Her lymphoma is not curable but it is treatable. They give her chemo for a period of time and then try to get it to go into remission. If it comes back, she does it all over again. She did not appear to be wearing a wig. Lucky her.
She also told me that her 27 year old son had Lukemia when he was three. She thinks it is strange because, there is no history of cancer in her family. The unfortunate thing is that one of her son’s chemo side effect was permanent brain damage. He is not able to work and is limited to things that he can do. If you talk with him you don’t notice it until further in the conversation. His mentality stays at about 15 years old. She is happy to have him alive. Her and her husband were great talk to.
Tomorrow my mother-in-law is going to drive me to get my neulasta shot.