August 9, 2009
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Chemo time
Posted by Stephanie 4:00pm CST from the apartment Houston, TX
Gemcitabine infusion Day 1--check. I started the new chemo regiment today (a day earlier than expected, since evidently there weren't any times available Monday), and we were amazingly in and out of the hospital in about 2 1/2 hours. I was given two pre-meds before the chemo--Zofran (anti-nausea medication) and Dexamethesone (steroids). When the nurse brought in the Gemcitabine, I was shocked at how tiny the bag was. I'm used to huge bags of strangely colored chemo, but this was clear and very litle. The chemo infused over 70 minutes (instead of four hours, like MTX), and after being flushed with saline, I was disconnected and we drove our happy little selves back to the apartment.
So far, *knock on wood* I feel totally fine. With methotrexate, I always started to feel puny as soon as the infusion started, but that was not the case with this, and for that, I'm thankful. We'll see how I feel as the day progresses. I'll be due for the second infusion a week from today, but since we had already gotten our flight when I learned about the Sunday start date, we have to push the second infusion a day later to next Monday because our return flight to Houston doesn't get in until Sunday evening. Dr. Benjamin said the one day difference was no big deal.
There hasn't been much else going on here. Mom and I continue to find new ways to amuse ourselves, since our tv channel selection is truly pitiful, and it's too hot to do anything outside. Puzzles, naps, video games......not exactly sure what we're going to do next week when I'm too fatigued to do anything or go anywhere. I'm guessing we'll be watching a lot of movies or reading a lot of books. I did get to go out to dinner (for Greek, yummy!) with Joe and Sarah last night. After that, we had Hank's ice cream. They had heard me mention it a couple of times, but had never been, so I was more than happy to introduce them to the joys of banana pudding ice cream (or chocolate, in Joe's case).
I'm off to go relax. Looking forward to flying home on Tuesday. Evidently it's pretty warm in Southwest Ohio today (91), though I have no empathy for those complaining about the temperature. Come to Houston--then you'll know real heat! Ciao for now.
--Steph
Comments (2)
Okay, I want to know what Dr. Benjamin looks like. He is like an ongoing character in this story I am reading, but I can't put a face to the name. I wonder if his pic is on the MDA website? I'll go look.
Nanner puddin' ice cream. I wonder why we don't have that here in NC, where nanner puddin' is the mandatory dessert after every meal.
Go run a few miles in the TX heat and then come talk to me
Can't wait to see you in a couple of days for the big 3-0! PS - who else lives in NC??
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