The end of week one

Well folks, week one is complete, I am home and I am surprisingly well.
The treatment last week was disrupting in a number of ways, firstly there was the Chemo being injected into my veins. Ok, a necessary evil, I can live with that (I need to live with that!). 
The big doses of steroids threw out my sleep patterns, so that at one point I'd had 7 hours sleep in 48 - reminds me of my youth! 
The two plus litres of IV at a time plus all the water required, resulted in trips to the bathroom at 45 minute intervals & a buzz to the nurse who had to gown up and test it for alkalinity and blood (no wonder I couldn't sleep).
Of course the medications bung you up so you have to have other medication to reverse that, with their own side effects, but clearing the Chemo out of the system was paramount.

So by Sunday, day 5, whilst I was tired, I did not feel particularly unwell - similar to the first week after a flu bout - run down, lethargic (no comments!!). On Monday, Tony the oncologist said I looked "well" and "young and fit" (leaving Liz choking on her coffee! - she thought I looked rough!) so I could go home Tuesday - and here I am.

What happens next?
The next stage is that my blood count (white platelets and neutrophils) and so forth will drop. I will become "Neutropenic".  This is where my body will be at risk because it will not be able to fight off infections.  It is expected that my count will hit bottom on about day 10 (this Friday), however I did receive a small injection costing about $1,000 which hopefully will accelerate the pick up of those counts and get us striding forward again.  So for the rest of this week I am keeping to myself, avoiding as much contact as is possible to minimise risk of infection. 

I can honestly say that I am lucky in having only had minimal reactions to the rejime (so far!), when in hospital there are numerous less fortunate patients who will, I am sure, be struggling to hold everything together.  I'm grateful for that small mercy.

Next week I have blood tests and an out patient visit with Tony, then it is recovery until round 2 commences on 21st December - perfectly timed for Christmas you note!!

I'll write a bit more about the later phases in a week or so.

The drug regime

So what's the drug regime like??
A word of warning coming from experience. The web is a wonderful place, however sometimes it is wrong or out of date. We, as you can imagine, have been reading up on my illness and have encountered these issues a number of times. I'm writing this blog with enough information and interest to keep you informed. I talk to the oncologist every day, he's been doing this for more than 15 years and from that I make a precis for you guys. If you do research this stuff, please only use it for your own use.

Well bearing in mind I'm someone who hates the 1 daily tablet I take for cholesterol - all of 10mg, and one who thinks twice about the Nurofen tablet once every 3 months, here is a days input.

Injections and infusions go in via my double portacath - which in themselves have two entry points, so I am wired for sound!
Tablets            to keep my ph levels alkaline                        2 tabs every 4 hours + bonuses!
Tablets            Steroids (for London 2012 100m sprint?)    10 tabs / day all together
Infusion          drug to protect lining of the bladder             18 hour slow infusion daily
Injection         drug to stop nausea (hopefully)                     about 25ml
Tablets            antibiotic to keep bugs at bay                       1 or 2 a day
Tablets            anti-fungal to keep other bugs at bay           1 or 2 a day
Drink              stuff for regularity!                                        125ml a day

On top of that is the chemo!
Hyper-CVAD is named after the initials of the chemotherapy drugs used or their trade name
Hyper means that more than one treatment (or dose) of the same drug is given in a day
The treatment is usually given over five days with generally one infused drug each day but two or more doses.
Day one (two and three) was Cyclophosphamide (a colourless fluid) given as an infusion over three hours.
to follow are (today is day 4 of 5)
Vincristine (a colourless fluid) and doxorubicin (a red fluid) are given as infusions.
Dexamethasone (a steroid) is given as tablets - this is the steroid above given daily at the moment
Methotrexate (a yellow fluid) is given as an infusion over 24 hours.
Cytarabine (a colourless fluid) is given as an infusion that lasts two hours.

So no adverse reactions to date. Still my same old self, just permanently attached to Baxter!!
Hairloss expected in about 3 weeks for all of the follicly challenged who are jealous of my luscious lowlighted locks!!

Hairy Mel (a misnomer if ever I heard one!)