I had my exit interview and Hickman Line out Monday and a few more tests done before I got to come home yesterday. It’s great to be back in the Springs and to sleep in my own bed.
The transplant was a success. My bone marrow was destroyed and my “clean” stem cells engrafted. They are [...]
Posts Tagged as ‘Chemo Side Effects’
July 8, 2009
Back to Base Camp
July 2, 2009
Night Sweats
I’ve been having night sweats for about a week now; starting with teeth-chattering floods and slowing to silent soakers. (Don’t worry, no urine is involved.) It’s a good thing the hotel has a king size bed as I can roll from damp to dry for most of the night. And a great thing they have [...]
June 8, 2009
Chez Chemo: Memo for the Week
Drinks & Appetizers:
Saline Solution (shaken, not stirred)
Scope Anti-nausea Patch
Dexamethasone
Main Courses:
Carmustine
Cytarabine (ARA,C)
Etoposide (VP-16)
Melphalan
Side (effect) Dishes:
Compazine – 40 mg daily
Kytril – 2 mg daily
Lansoprazole – 30 mg daily
Lorazepam – 4 mg daily
Temazepam – 30 mg daily
Dessert (next week):
Acyclovir – 1,600 mg daily
Diflucan – 800 mg daily
Levaquin – 500 mg daily
May 31, 2009
Open Wide
One of the few side effects of chemotherapy I haven’t yet expounded on is mouth sores. The condition is known as Stomatitis – an inflammation in the mouth, or Oral Mucositis – irritation of the mucous lining of the mouth.
The problem is that these linings aren’t replaced as frequently as needed because chemo [...]
May 28, 2009
Secular Stigmata
I was sitting at my computer on Wednesday night and suddenly realized my arm was bleeding. The same thing had happened twice before in the last few days. Had the blood been on my hands, I could have claimed stigmata, of which there have been more than 500 recorded cases; the most famous involving St. [...]
May 17, 2009
Great To Be Alive!
it’s great to be alive on a sunny Sunday, especially after what happened to me on Friday and Saturday. The RMCC is a world-class facility with top notch professionals; and don’t even get me started on their kick-ass pharmaceuticals.
Despite these advantages, this “mobilization” chemo was my worst yet as far a side effects. At [...]
April 27, 2009
You’re Taking What!
The newest addition to my list of drugs to swallow—number 23, but who’s counting—is Fluconazole (the generic of Diflucan), which many female readers will recognize as a leading treatment for yeast infections.
The packaging boasts, “Just one oral tablet provides a full course of therapy sufficient to cure most vaginal yeast infections.” Me? I’m on a [...]
April 20, 2009
Drugged Out
Home today and slooowly recovering. It’s a wonder I can sit up, much less stand. I don’t know how to describe what chemo feels like. Instead I’ll list its causes and let you imagine the effects.
Over the last eight months I have been repeatedly injected with, or ingested, a pharmacopeia from A to Z; either [...]
