This morning Laurice had her first session of Chemo;
The morning started with a visit with her Oncologist Prof Michael Green, He began with some great news in that Laurice wouldn't not be needing Radiation Therapy!!
Prof Green once again explained some of the possible side effects of her particular chemo cocktail, stressing that she would be pumped full of pre-chemo meds to ward off nausea before the chemo starts and that there was a remote chance (1% of cases) that there may be an allergic reaction to one of the drugs ; Taxotere.
The Chemo Clinic is right across the hall from Prof Green's office, so before long Laurice was seated in a big recliner, the room was full of patients receiving various forms of chemo. Laurice was the youngest in the room and a quick look around was enough to convince her that life is too short to wear bad wigs and when her time comes to loose her hair ( in the next 2 weeks!) she will proudly be bold and go bald! rather than suffer under one of the favoured polyester wigs we spotted today.
Lucy the Chemo Nurse began searching in vain for vein (pardon the pun) but after 3 attempts gave up and deferred to her colleague, Amy who looked like she was fresh out of nursing school. However Amy was clearly in charge of the oncology unit and didn't mess around, she looked Laurice's arm up and down , grabbed a needle and got a vein at first try ( much to Laurice's 'the needle-phobe's' delight). First came the pre chemo meds and a flu shot, Laurice had no problem, then came the Cyclophosphamide, apart from being able to "feel" the drug entering her body and a faint metallic taste, Laurice was feeling OK and spent her time chatting and reading.
Just as we were enjoying some cheese and crackers, the patient next to Laurice started getting her dose of Taxotere. ( the 2nd of Laurice's chemo cocktail) Within 5 mins she started feeling hot and had tightness in her chest, the nurses recognising an allergic reaction and quickly administered drugs to reverse the reaction and bring the unfortunate lady back to normal again. I said to Laurice that this was her lucky day, since if this reaction happens in 1% of cases, the lady next to her was the 1% and Laurice would now "statistically" be more likely to fall in the 99 %!
Well no one told the statisticians that Laurice was supposed to be in the 99%!!! . Just 3 mins into her scheduled 1hr dose, Laurice had an allergic reaction. She felt the drug go into her arm , her chest tightened and she began to find it hard to breathe, she turn bright red and her temperature shot way up. her head was swimming and she felt like passing out. The nurse quickly turned off the IV gave her
hydrocortisone to reverse the effects of the Taxotere. They then gave her a huge dose of fenergen ( an antihistamine ) After half an hour she started feeling a bit drowsy so Laurice said to me " get me 300mls of strong iced coffee STAT!!!" I fetched the coffee and Laurice self-administered over the next 20 mins, while the last of the fenergen went into her arm. Then it was time for the Taxotere again, this time around Laurice broke through the 3 minute barrier without any issues!!
Laurice has alway taken pride in her project management capabilities however what was supposed to be a 3 hour morning turned into a long 7 hour day! Being behind schedule NEVER makes Laurice comfortable!
Armed with a bag full of anti nausea drugs I took a slightly groggy but otherwise fine Laurice home. The next few days will be all about managing nausea and waiting for the chemo truck to hit around day 4!
Thank you for all of your messages of support and a huge thank you to the Team Laurice Support crew for stocking up the fridge and freezer while we were at the hospital,
More updates soon
Team Laurice
Well done-another step in the journey accomplished! I think you may need to get a hummingbird tattoo with its beak pointing right to the best vein to save all that mucking about! Thinking of you as you rest up. Narellex
ReplyDeleteIm glad she had tou there to help her through and espically help her be a little more ok with it taking longer then expected :)
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