Its day 5 of the the chemo treatment and the last day of the at home chemo. If I hadn't had the problem with the pump that would be done today. Instead it will be tomorrow morning that the PICC line and pump go away. I have started to notice some changes though. Prior to the start of this chemo we did away with some of the drugs that were drying up the excess mucus. This was because severe dry mouth was starting to form. Now at the end of this week I can tell that the exact opposite is starting. This afternoon there is lots of mucus and saliva so I have started back on the treatment to handle this. The excess mucus really impacts sleeping.
I am also concerned about the nausea that manifested itself last time on the weekend. I started on Zofran today (Had to wait to day 5 of chemo to restart the Zofran) and went with the schedule that solved the problem last time.
One thing I have noticed from the chemo treatments is that the side effects come and go without a lot of notice. It isn't the case that once a side effect is gone it doesn't come back. The excess mucus is an example. Last week that was going away. The biggest concern was the thick mucus at the back of the throat. (Still a concern) Now the excess mucus is back and needs to be dealt with. In this respect I look at each chemo treatment as a potential reset of symptoms. Even though things may have gotten better at the end of the last cycle this is a new cycle and things start all over again. Fortunately there is only one more treatment after this. Then hopefully as side effects drop off they stay away. That is the hope at least.
On the TV trivia I have noticed once again that there are more food ads on TV than you realize. All with nicely done tempting commercials. I have started watching the Food Channel in anticipation of when I will be able to eat again. As you may remember my other term is the "Food Porn" channel. :-) At times I wonder what type of food budget and cleaning time would be required to make these type of items on a regular basis. I like fresh herbs and such but keeping a supply in to use at will would get very expensive and all the dishes and pots used would require at least an hour per meal of serious clean up. Still its a fun channel to watch just to get ideas and to live vicariously through others. Hopefully in the next few months I will be able to start to eat normal food. Right now that is the biggest thing that I really miss out on.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Chemo Part II day 4: No Major Storms Yet
Its day 4 of my second to last chemo treatment. The new pump is working fine though with the delay I will have it on until Saturday morning. Between this treatment and the last treatment we have switched insurance providers. You can ask Sue just how much fun that has been. :-) NOT! One plus with the new provider is they use a different at home chemo pump provider. In this case they will come out to the house to remove the pump and PICC line. That saves me a trip in and makes it a bit easier.
So far the side effects this time are about the same as last time. The one change is a thicker mucus forming at the back of the throat. It is causing some discomfort when sleeping but no major nausea so far. Of course last time the side effects seemed to kick in during week number 2.
Next week I think I am will be going to see the ENT doctor to check on my throats progress and also some partial blockage on one side of my nose. I wonder if that is causing some of the mucus backup. One thing that is different this time is that what is building in my throat is a lot thicker and more like what you would get out of your nose. (Yep, it is that gross. :-)) I think that is also causing some of the swallowing problems. It like I can feel the water hitting the back of the throat and getting stopped or diffused by these big chunks of hardened mucus. That seems to trigger some of the gag reflex.
One of the consequences of the change in insurance is that the ENT doctor is no longer considered "in network" so that makes using his services a bit more difficult. I was scheduled to go this week but with the problems with the chemo pump and just being in the pump for the week we cancelled that appointment. Next week though it will make sense to see him. Its not that the medical oncologist are not keeping on top of things but at this point I think its time to get a second expert opinion. From my initial conversations with the ENT doctor when they first diagnosed the cancer I gathered he has seen more of this type of cancer so he may have some other ideas.
As I mentioned the lack of ability to drink for the last several months really gets to be a drag. Until you start to pay attention you don't appreciate just how many commercials there are for different drinks or restaurants on at late night. At times it can be a bit of a downer. hopefully this will start to change in the next few weeks. Even now I am watching a show called "How They Make It" The were showing how fire extinguishers are made when I started writing this but now has switched to a donut factory. Its too interesting to want to switch channels but on the other hand its a bit of torture to watch the donuts being made not knowing when my next opportunity to eat one will be. :-( (Yep... I am a glutton for punishment. Pun intended. :-)) As the immortal Homer Simpson would say... " mmmmm... donuts." or something like that. :-) OK... now the show is covering shock absorbers. Time to wrap up this post.
I can tell the throat is getting better. It used to be that a Fentanyl patch and some additional medication taken every 3 hours were required to handle the throat pain. Now the Fentanyl patch seems to handle it except for situations where I have thrown up. There will be some mouth sores from the F5U chemo that I am getting now but that will be different than the throat pain and the pills will help handle that.
So far the side effects this time are about the same as last time. The one change is a thicker mucus forming at the back of the throat. It is causing some discomfort when sleeping but no major nausea so far. Of course last time the side effects seemed to kick in during week number 2.
Next week I think I am will be going to see the ENT doctor to check on my throats progress and also some partial blockage on one side of my nose. I wonder if that is causing some of the mucus backup. One thing that is different this time is that what is building in my throat is a lot thicker and more like what you would get out of your nose. (Yep, it is that gross. :-)) I think that is also causing some of the swallowing problems. It like I can feel the water hitting the back of the throat and getting stopped or diffused by these big chunks of hardened mucus. That seems to trigger some of the gag reflex.
One of the consequences of the change in insurance is that the ENT doctor is no longer considered "in network" so that makes using his services a bit more difficult. I was scheduled to go this week but with the problems with the chemo pump and just being in the pump for the week we cancelled that appointment. Next week though it will make sense to see him. Its not that the medical oncologist are not keeping on top of things but at this point I think its time to get a second expert opinion. From my initial conversations with the ENT doctor when they first diagnosed the cancer I gathered he has seen more of this type of cancer so he may have some other ideas.
As I mentioned the lack of ability to drink for the last several months really gets to be a drag. Until you start to pay attention you don't appreciate just how many commercials there are for different drinks or restaurants on at late night. At times it can be a bit of a downer. hopefully this will start to change in the next few weeks. Even now I am watching a show called "How They Make It" The were showing how fire extinguishers are made when I started writing this but now has switched to a donut factory. Its too interesting to want to switch channels but on the other hand its a bit of torture to watch the donuts being made not knowing when my next opportunity to eat one will be. :-( (Yep... I am a glutton for punishment. Pun intended. :-)) As the immortal Homer Simpson would say... " mmmmm... donuts." or something like that. :-) OK... now the show is covering shock absorbers. Time to wrap up this post.
I can tell the throat is getting better. It used to be that a Fentanyl patch and some additional medication taken every 3 hours were required to handle the throat pain. Now the Fentanyl patch seems to handle it except for situations where I have thrown up. There will be some mouth sores from the F5U chemo that I am getting now but that will be different than the throat pain and the pills will help handle that.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Chemo Day Three - New equipment
I am posting again from the iPod touch. This round of chemo with the pump at home seems to take more out of me than normal.
One problem did crop up this week. Since the last round of chemo we have switched insurance companies. For the most part the doctors have stayed the same. One switch is the service providers for equipment and st home feedings. For the st home part of the chemo treatment this meant a new pump provider. Unfortunately the first pump had a problem where it kept reporting a air bubble in the line. After reseting the pp the error would clear for about 45 minutes and then return. I spoke to the doctors office and the pump provider sms the next day went into the doctors office so they could take a look at it. I had to go in to have the dressing on the PICC line changed as well.
There was a small air bubble in the bag that they cleared and I thought that everything was good to go. Then shortly after getting home the alarm went off again. This time when I called the pump supplier it was decided to replace the pump. They sent another pump that afternoon and talked me through hooking it up. That was pretty so simple and did not involve unhooking any of the lines from the chemo drugs. That I would not have done. I may not have mentioned this before bot they treat the chemo drugs like toxic waste. They even gave me a special kit designed to handle toxic waste spills in case there were any leaks. Yep, that is the stuff they use to go after the cancer cells. Its considered toxic waste on the outside of you bot is a cancer killing medicine inside of you. The irony is pretty amazing.
Other than that hiccup things are going along as expected. One nice thing to know is that after this round of chemo there is only one more round left. Then its just about recovery. Yippee
One problem did crop up this week. Since the last round of chemo we have switched insurance companies. For the most part the doctors have stayed the same. One switch is the service providers for equipment and st home feedings. For the st home part of the chemo treatment this meant a new pump provider. Unfortunately the first pump had a problem where it kept reporting a air bubble in the line. After reseting the pp the error would clear for about 45 minutes and then return. I spoke to the doctors office and the pump provider sms the next day went into the doctors office so they could take a look at it. I had to go in to have the dressing on the PICC line changed as well.
There was a small air bubble in the bag that they cleared and I thought that everything was good to go. Then shortly after getting home the alarm went off again. This time when I called the pump supplier it was decided to replace the pump. They sent another pump that afternoon and talked me through hooking it up. That was pretty so simple and did not involve unhooking any of the lines from the chemo drugs. That I would not have done. I may not have mentioned this before bot they treat the chemo drugs like toxic waste. They even gave me a special kit designed to handle toxic waste spills in case there were any leaks. Yep, that is the stuff they use to go after the cancer cells. Its considered toxic waste on the outside of you bot is a cancer killing medicine inside of you. The irony is pretty amazing.
Other than that hiccup things are going along as expected. One nice thing to know is that after this round of chemo there is only one more round left. Then its just about recovery. Yippee
Monday, March 3, 2008
Whats On Tap for This Week
I get to rejoin the collective again today. The 2nd of the last three chemo treatments is scheduled for today so the PICC line goes back in. Now that I have been through it once I find I am not so apprehensive about the PICC line and wearing the pump for a few days. I really just want to get these last two chemo treatments completed.
Right now the biggest side effect that I am still feeling is in my throat. It just doesn't seem to be getting any better or at least noticeably better anytime soon. The last radiation treatment was about two and a half months ago and I still can not drink anything without getting the urge to throw up. I know that my throat isn't blocked because I can throw up fine. :-) It seems to be that when something hits parts of the back of the throat on the way down it triggers a reaction to throw up. I am going to ask if I can get a referral to the ENT doctor that first diagnosed my condition. While the medical oncologist are fine at treating the symptoms like nausea and such I would like to get an experts take on my throat. It may just be that with the large amount of radiation I had the healing process will take time. On the other hand I would like to make sure that there isn't anything else I could be doing to help move the process along. The one thing that I really miss throughout this whole process is just the simple ability to be able to take a cold drink of water. I haven't been able to do that for about 4 months now. Sometimes we take the simple things for granted but just being able to drink something to clear your throat or mouth is something that I really miss.
Right now the biggest side effect that I am still feeling is in my throat. It just doesn't seem to be getting any better or at least noticeably better anytime soon. The last radiation treatment was about two and a half months ago and I still can not drink anything without getting the urge to throw up. I know that my throat isn't blocked because I can throw up fine. :-) It seems to be that when something hits parts of the back of the throat on the way down it triggers a reaction to throw up. I am going to ask if I can get a referral to the ENT doctor that first diagnosed my condition. While the medical oncologist are fine at treating the symptoms like nausea and such I would like to get an experts take on my throat. It may just be that with the large amount of radiation I had the healing process will take time. On the other hand I would like to make sure that there isn't anything else I could be doing to help move the process along. The one thing that I really miss throughout this whole process is just the simple ability to be able to take a cold drink of water. I haven't been able to do that for about 4 months now. Sometimes we take the simple things for granted but just being able to drink something to clear your throat or mouth is something that I really miss.
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