Day 1: A Typical Visit to the Chemo Ward

Hey, folks!

So, Day 1. I guess I'll give you all a breakdown of which pills I'm taking each day.

At home:

Ativan- 1 pill (controls anticipatory nausea & anxiety)

Pepcid- 1 pill (controls stomach acidity)

Emend- 1 pill (long-term nausea, I take it for days 1-3 of each cycle and it lasts 21 days.) This drug can be administered via IV, however on Cycle 1 Day 1 I experienced an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the IV bag (polysorbate-80).

At hospital:

Decadron- 3 pills (controls nausea, but also makes me super anxious, energetic, etc.)

Zofran- 2 pills (controls nausea)

Reglan- 1 pill (controls nausea)

At home tonight:

Reglan- 1 pill

Pepcid- 1 Pill

This pill schedule, except for the Emend, will continue until day 6.

That seems like a lot of pills just for nausea right? Paraphrasing what my nurses told me in my first cycle, the key in understanding why I need  multiple drugs for nausea is that each of these attacks a different part of the brain. Together they are very effective in curbing the effects of nausea.

So, what is a typical chemo day like? To answer that question, I made a short video on my experience today in the chemo ward... Enjoy! (Forgive my non-existent editing skills.)

**3/31/2012 EDIT**: Found a video of a TC patient having his port hooked up during his chemo session for those of you who'll be using a port for your treatment. See here!

My condition after the chemo ward: I am currently roughly 4 hours post-chemo, and I'm feeling completely normal for the most part. One side effect that's already hitting is the fatigue, but it's not heavy nor mental. Basically, my legs feel tired like I've been hiking all day, but it's not much worse than that yet.

Good news: my 7/2/2011 blood draw HCG results came back @ <2! AFP still in lab.

IMPORTANT: For me, consistent activity over the next 5 days is critical to getting through my cycle with as little fatigue and nausea as possible. During my first cycle, I came home every day and slept for 3 hours saying, "Chemo's tough, I should just sleep it off." It seemed to have made matters worse. If nothing else, it was *depressing* to continually move from my bed, to the car, to the chemo chair, etc. for an entire week.

In my second cycle I heeded these simple rules (self created but based on advice received from various nurses, docs, and friends) and it worked wonders for me! I saw my onco-pharmacist on day 5 of my cycle and he said that if he wasn't the one filling my chemo drug prescriptions, he wouldn't be able to tell I'd had 40 hours of treatment that week! More importantly I felt good, and I was living life. Make a plan and stick to it.

Raub's Rules:

1. Forced myself to get outside and do something for 30 min to an hour. Even went out for dinner with some friends on day 5!
2. Laughed, a LOT.
3. Didn't do any TC treatment research nor did I talk with my nurses about TC beyond what was necessary (checking for side effects etc).
4. My bed was for bedtime and the rest of the house was for the rest of my day.

Activity today:

I'll be going for a walk today once the sun calms down a little (my understanding is that as a chemo patient, I'm more at risk for sun burns). I'll try to do 30-40 minutes with breaks, but I think that'll be a stretch. It's a balance between not wearing myself on Day 1 while still moving.

Update: I'm roughly 7.5 hours post chemo. I went for an hour walk with roughly 20 minutes of breaks needed. Now that I'm back, I'm really starting to feel the nausea; not in an, "I'm about to puke," way, but rather a dull, very noticeable nausea. I'd assume it feels similar to sea sickness without the vomiting.

Update #2: I just took my nighttime pills and the bedtime Reglan gave me near immediate relief from my nausea! Thinking back I did take my hospital Reglan @ roughly 8:45 am vs the bedtime one @ 9:30 pm. My personal advice: Do not be off on your pills, even by an hour, seriously.

"Destroy What Destroys You"