This session has been awful I have reported to the nurse of the side effects that have occurred over the last two days but especially today. When eating even the smallest morsel, my jaw has locked, this has occurred on several occasions. I also had muscle spasm's in my hands, causing them to close tightly for short periods of time but quite frightening. I also have muscle spasm's in my face which caused my eyelids to close involuntarily (nothing to do with the tiredness, I was walking hope from school) I became very sleepy and slept most of the day yesterday and all afternoon today.Having reported this, my nurse telephoned Dr McMillan (Oncologist) who immediately asked that future Chemotherapy sessions are extended to Eight Hours IV Infusion. This is where I get the :-
Treatment
Ondansetron a powerful anti sickness drug via IV drip,
Dexamethasone is a potent synthetic steroid drug. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. It is 20 to 30 times more potent than the naturally occurring hormone cortisol .
I then have Magnesium Sulphate and Calcium Gluconate in IV this is taken just before and just after Oxaliplatin two hour session of the main Chemotherapy Drug
IV of Folinic Acid Folinic Acid assists the Oxaliplatin but please click on the links for the full explanation.
This was previously taking approximately 6 hours which will now be extended to 8 hours
5FU Flourouracil I then have this as a 48 hour IV which sits on my belt and is administered at 5.07 mls an hour
Blood Tests
I have started plotting my blood results as I noticed a few of the categories have "Dipped" I have put them onto an Excel Graph and downloaded the Translation and "Normal Ranges" Hopefully the translation and normal ranges may be helpful to others reading the blog and will endeavour to publish them. I've got time on my hands so I can do this sort of thing!!! I also have cancer markers within my blood tests and found it quite interesting whilst reading up on this that Cancer Markers can be requested along with a blood test that any Doctor can request.
Cancer Markers Blood Tests
Examples of markers your doctor may test for include:
- CA 15.3: used to find breast and ovarian cancers
- TRU-QUANT and CA 27.29: may mean that breast cancer is present
- CA125: may signal ovarian cancer, ovarian cancer recurrence, and breast cancer recurrence
- CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen): a marker for the presence of colon, lung, and liver cancers. This marker may be used to determine if cancer has traveled to other areas of the body.
- Circulating tumor cells: cells that break off from the cancer and move into the blood stream. High circulating tumor cell counts may indicate that the cancer is growing. The CellSearch test has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to monitor circulating tumor cells in women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.
- (EGFR)epidermal growth factor receptor Giorgio V. Scagliotti, MD, PhD, head of the Thoracic Oncology Unit, Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, San Luigi Hospital, Orbassano, Italy, stresses the importance of testing and treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients based on the mutation.
Wendy's Blog
Looking in on what John is going through is awful, as a Mother and Wife your instinct is to want to take the pain and worry away from those that you love, but you know that you can't. At the moment I have an extra pair of hands in the house with my Mum here but that is for only two more weeks so I am know looking at what to do when she goes. I was looking at chest freezers today so that on weekends I can cook for the week ahead as John is really struggling with the pins and needles in his fingers and hands. Cold effects them really badly. When I get home from work it would be easier if the food was pretty much done.
When John is asleep I keep checking on him and check to see if his chest is moving as he is in such a deep sleep (which is so unusual). I am also worried that he will get an infection that when I pass him I put my hand on his forehead to check temperature and if he feels clammy the thermometer goes in to his mouth.
I am constantly walking around with a sick feeling which is caused by worry, worried for John, worried for Hope and worried for the boys.
Hope's Blog
I'm really worrying about daddy he doesn't have his chemo on today but he still has the cold affect.I'm in year five and all the teachers are worrying about me even my year four teacher is, at least I have teachers and my friends to talk to.Sometimes when my mummy isn't home I have to help daddy get some stuff out the fridge and freezer cold!
When my dad read the blog that I wrote he nearly cried.My mum then said have you read mine obviously NOT!!!Because hers is in black and mines pretty like I am.B)
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