The new medications are taken orally, so we aren’t tied to the Cancer Center’s IV equipment. The regimen is complex and specific, requiring Xeloda be taken at the same time every day, twice each day, with food, on days 1 through 10. Temodar is added on days 10 through 14 taken three hours before or one hour after food once a day. Zofran counteracts nausea and is taken (WITHOUT FAIL!) one hour before the Temodar. I spend a lot of time setting cookie timers, then figuring out what has been timed.
For any given course of chemo, side effects are difficult to anticipate. WITHOUT FAIL is no mere caution. Once I forgot the Zofran and spent the night wrapped around the toilet bowl. That will never happen again. Side effects now are moderate and manageable, though unpleasant. This could change as my body accommodates itself to ongoing treatment. Nevertheless, they are unpleasant. So is the illness.
The results of the transfusion and ProCrit treatment noted in the last blog: RBC up 35%, HGB up 39%, an excellent response that set me up for the subsequent chemotherapy. This rebound speaks well for the status of my immune system: happy news!
The PLEASANT part is waking up each morning, greeting the sunshine of a new day, squeezing Michael’s hand and rejoicing in the gift of time.
Copyright 2007
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