The First Chemo: One Down, Three to Go!

Just got home yesterday from PGH from my first chemo session. (If you’ve stumbled upon this blog and you’re interested what concoction it was – it was Cisplatin for 8 hours drip for 1 day, then Etoposide for 2 hours over the course of three days. I’m getting this 4 months after my surgery where they excised the tumor whole. Although they got everything out, patho confirmed it’s “poorly differentiated” neuroendocrine carcinoma; “poorly differentiated” meaning it is the aggressive, malignant type and may come back quickly and, hence the chemo to kill whatever cancer cells are lurking in my body. My chemo treatment practically is a precaution for recurrence. I’ve read from cancer survivor’s blogs that the fear for recurrence is always there whenever you go on your regular scans, but at least this step hopefully slows it down by years…  My chemo’s on 4 cycles with a 3 to 4 week gap between cycles. After that, we wait for 6 months or a full year since the 1^st chemo sesh, and go for a scan to check if there’s any trouble brewing. But THAT’s like ages away. So I won’t think about this now. In the meantime, one chemo at a time!)

Okay, back to the first chemo sesh: it was nothing to get worried about, actually. Everything went well – the troubles I had I think are minor. I did get a tiny bit of allergy whenever the pre-meds for Etoposide came on the IV. Now back home, I’m constipated (TMI, I know, but I think it would help to let someone who’s about to go to chemo to know that).

Oh, but it did help a HUGE bit that my onco prescribed a really great anti-vomit drug, an “aprepitant” named EMEND, manufactured by Merck (MSD). I got mine thru a med rep, and then delivered straight to PGH on Day 1, which is when they prep you prior chemo itself. No nasty vomiting whatsover! And still no vomiting today, but we’ll see in the days to come. It’s pricey (a little over P3K for a 3-day pack), but well worth every penny.

My friends Kara and Dino came up to visit, so did my cousin Rouschelle. Cheered me a great deal. Also most importantly, my cousin Enveeh (what a name, right?) was an excellent and proactive nurse who watched over me the whole time. My family was always there, either physically or online, checking up on me, and that was a tremendous source of comfort.

On the first morning home, despite being constipated and bloated (ugh I feel like michelin man now), I still feel strong and normal. Of course I’m taking every precaution to keep myself healthy – lysol everywhere, sanitizing everything. Immunity goes low as a side effect of chemo. I have to make an effort to keep away from the kids (we have toddlers at home), which is a huge sacrifice. I’ll try to feel my way a bit during the first week after chemo and see how far I can go in terms of movement beyond the house.

Anyway, that’s it. First chemo down! Hopefully the next three are just as uneventful!