April 1: K8 vs CMO

Yesterday was K8 vs CMO round 1 and The reality is that it was no fabulous chemo debut.....I thought I would walk in get my two chemo infusions and walk out like a bad ass “welcome to the chemo club.... mike drop”!!! However, for lack of better words,  I got bitch slapped. Twice!

Don’t get me wrong I know this is going to very hard, and that it is very serious but I can not dwell on that- so I just focus on being a bad ass. 

The day started out well! I really was on top of my game... had a lovely time with nurses, I was not nervous, we talked about my zebra shirt and the meaning behind it as well as our kids. She advocated from me and messaged my doc to get permission for a second long acting anti nausea med called emend. It was approved and we were off and running. IV premeds, steroids and fluids were being pumped In and everything was great. Then came a big Ol sucker punch. The Emend was being administered when all of a sudden I got a twinge in my back, then heat and pressure in my chest. I looked at the nurse and told her my chest felt weird... she knew immediately I was reacting to the medication and in 10 seconds there was about 7 nurses in the room. The reaction was intense with chest pressure, coughing, throat closing up then flushing of my face and upper and lower extremities- it kind of felt like I would imagine Dr. Bruce Banner feels when he turns into the hulk. They were able to act quickly and stop the reaction fast. I spent the next three hours getting my first chemo drug and did well. When that medication was completed my line was flushed and then they started my second chemo Etoposide (this chemo is the one I get three days in a row- so 12 doses of). That is when the score became K8 0 to CMO 2! Ha! Despite having benadryl, Pepcid and steroids on board i had another pretty significant reaction. 

Turns out I am allergic to the preservative that is found in both of those IV medications called Polysorbit 80.There is a very low percentage of people who have a severe or anaphylactic allergic reaction to that.......#zebra 🙋🏻‍♀️🦓 The nurse and I had a good laugh she said "u know you really are a zebra”! 

The rest of the day was kind of a blur considering all the benadryl i was on. Needless to say we did not finish the Etoposide infusion. After a coming together of the minds at mayo we decided to proceed with an oral version of this chemo. There was one other infusion option that could be considered but there is more risk for organ toxicity and it does not pair well with radiation. So we will proceed with oral Etoposide today and tomorrow. Today I will take my dose of six pills in the chemo clinic so I can be observed for two hours. Hopefully the nurses do not run and take cover when i arrive. Here is hoping all goes well today! 

Now for radiation update. Talked to Dr. Oliver, my rad onc yesterday (who called me from his cell because he is out of the office this week for what was supposed to be spring break, instead he gets to work on my radiation plan.) They have completed my radiation plan but he felt it was only a 95% he was making adjustments to one of the machines to make it 100% so we start radiation tomorrow.

How covid 19 impacts this: after all was said and done yesterday my nurses who practically saved my life twice yesterday could only give me air hugs. You just dont know the power of touch until you cant do it. It was kind of like after my follow up with Dr. Cassivi when we were saying our goodbyes and  we couldn't even shake hands- it felt so incomplete. The halls here are getting more and more empty everyday. Today all the chemo nurses are wearing masks.

PS. Chemo for dummies was very interesting I esp liked learning about how poisonous my urine will be! I mean seriously these are real things no one else talks about when talking about chemo. I have to close the toilet lid when i flush because they dont want it to aerosol 🤨mind blowing info. If anything gets soiled we have to where gloves to clean it up and take special washing precautions. And now we all learned something new-ish.

* comments posted using Safari do not come through! I know many have reached out saying they commented but wasn't seeing it! If you use chrome or Edge it will post. And since I am so bored and have nothing to do I fully expect everyone to reread every post and comment again JK! 

Day 1 before the TKO

Day 2 Handling  Etoposide oral like a Boss