Tomorrow I start my eighth and final cycle. Here is how the last two cycles went...
Cycle six went much better than cycle five. The Zantac helped with the bloating which in turn helped with the nausea. I'm taking 150mg twice a day. I take one pill with breakfast and one before bed. I also switched to Marinol for nausea, and that worked better than Ativan which I took during cycle five. Ativan seemed to just knock me out, and not do a lot for nausea. Marinol makes me sleepy, but also reduces the nausea substantially. Another new thing I did was eat an apple everyday. They helped my bowels move which helped with the bloating. Overall, it was an event free cycle. I threw up less than cycle five, maybe twice all week. My mom was here with me for the week because cycle five didn't go that well. But, as I mentioned above, cycle six went great compared to the previous one. Everyday when we waited for the valet to bring the car to the front, we agreed that I would be able to drive myself home if I were alone. So we decided I would do cycle seven by myself.
Cycle seven started bad, but I recovered well and finished strong. On Monday after finishing chemo I picked up Subway, and woofed it down when I got home because I was starving. I took a Marinol and went to bed. Two hours later I woke up and played on my phone for a little bit. Then all of a sudden I felt really dizzy, and soon after that I threw up my whole Italian B.M.T. It was a mess. It was all over me and the bed. It was the biggest mess I ever made throwing up by far. It was so bad that I didn't even bother to wash some of the sheets. I just tossed them, it was so gross. I spent the rest of the day washing the rest of the sheets that I didn't dispose of. I finished washing them around 11pm, keeping me up far longer than what has worked for me on this chemo. The reason I got sick was because of the Marinol and the way I ate the hoagie. I have felt sick on the Marinol before so this wasn't the first time. We dropped the dose down to 5mg, and that worked much better for me. It helped with the nausea just as well, and I didn't feel the negative side effects as much. I was previously on 10mg which is the maximum dose.
One problem I had this cycle which was new for me was getting stuck with the IV. I was able to get through the previous two cycles with only two IV accesses each week. This time my blood return was so poor at the end of each treatment day that the access couldn't be used the next day. I had blown veins, and the nurses seemed to have difficulty sticking me. My arms are a mess.
All things considered I think last cycle went well. Other than Monday I didn't really throw up much other than bile a few times, but that's been normal for me on this chemo. Monday set me back with rest, but I made up for it by resting more when I was at the hospital. I was able to take care of myself all week, and never felt like I needed help.
It was different this cycle being by myself. It was my first time having chemo at the hospital without my mom there by my side. She's a huge help being there. Having someone there to help out with food and other things to keep me comfortable is great, but most importantly having someone to talk to really keeps my mind off of things. I definitely missed her last cycle. I'm very fortunate to have someone there for me like my mom.
Last thing to mention. I had a CT scan of my chest and abdomen, and everything looked good. No evidence of disease. I'll be finishing my last cycle of chemo almost five years to the day from the last time. It really puts into perspective how long I have been dealing with all of this. Since then I have finished three years of college, moved to Virginia, and worked two years. Hopefully this week of chemo will be my last, but if it isn't I'll continue to push forward like I've been.
Seven Cycles Down, One To Go!
Cycle six went much better than cycle five. The Zantac helped with the bloating which in turn helped with the nausea. I'm taking 150mg twice a day. I take one pill with breakfast and one before bed. I also switched to Marinol for nausea, and that worked better than Ativan which I took during cycle five. Ativan seemed to just knock me out, and not do a lot for nausea. Marinol makes me sleepy, but also reduces the nausea substantially. Another new thing I did was eat an apple everyday. They helped my bowels move which helped with the bloating. Overall, it was an event free cycle. I threw up less than cycle five, maybe twice all week. My mom was here with me for the week because cycle five didn't go that well. But, as I mentioned above, cycle six went great compared to the previous one. Everyday when we waited for the valet to bring the car to the front, we agreed that I would be able to drive myself home if I were alone. So we decided I would do cycle seven by myself.
Cycle seven started bad, but I recovered well and finished strong. On Monday after finishing chemo I picked up Subway, and woofed it down when I got home because I was starving. I took a Marinol and went to bed. Two hours later I woke up and played on my phone for a little bit. Then all of a sudden I felt really dizzy, and soon after that I threw up my whole Italian B.M.T. It was a mess. It was all over me and the bed. It was the biggest mess I ever made throwing up by far. It was so bad that I didn't even bother to wash some of the sheets. I just tossed them, it was so gross. I spent the rest of the day washing the rest of the sheets that I didn't dispose of. I finished washing them around 11pm, keeping me up far longer than what has worked for me on this chemo. The reason I got sick was because of the Marinol and the way I ate the hoagie. I have felt sick on the Marinol before so this wasn't the first time. We dropped the dose down to 5mg, and that worked much better for me. It helped with the nausea just as well, and I didn't feel the negative side effects as much. I was previously on 10mg which is the maximum dose.
One problem I had this cycle which was new for me was getting stuck with the IV. I was able to get through the previous two cycles with only two IV accesses each week. This time my blood return was so poor at the end of each treatment day that the access couldn't be used the next day. I had blown veins, and the nurses seemed to have difficulty sticking me. My arms are a mess.
All things considered I think last cycle went well. Other than Monday I didn't really throw up much other than bile a few times, but that's been normal for me on this chemo. Monday set me back with rest, but I made up for it by resting more when I was at the hospital. I was able to take care of myself all week, and never felt like I needed help.
It was different this cycle being by myself. It was my first time having chemo at the hospital without my mom there by my side. She's a huge help being there. Having someone there to help out with food and other things to keep me comfortable is great, but most importantly having someone to talk to really keeps my mind off of things. I definitely missed her last cycle. I'm very fortunate to have someone there for me like my mom.
Last thing to mention. I had a CT scan of my chest and abdomen, and everything looked good. No evidence of disease. I'll be finishing my last cycle of chemo almost five years to the day from the last time. It really puts into perspective how long I have been dealing with all of this. Since then I have finished three years of college, moved to Virginia, and worked two years. Hopefully this week of chemo will be my last, but if it isn't I'll continue to push forward like I've been.
Seven Cycles Down, One To Go!
Glad to hear the cheat CT looked good. Hope the last cycle went well!
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