Treatment #7

Here we are again! I have discovered I am having a psychological response to this chemotherapy. This morning Kevin mentioned he had to go get the pump to bring to the hospital and I immediately started feeling nauseous! Darn that Pavlov....

I met with the nurse practitioner today. My doctor is out of town at a conference. I asked to see the report of my CT scan from last month and she was able to call it up for us. According to the report the cancer has been reduced in all areas of my body where the cancer appears. That is good news.

Today I do have to take the oxaliplatin but they are reducing the dose to 80% of what I have been taking. It is a fine balance between getting the beneficial effects of the drug and not completely destroying my nervous system. I still feel some of the effects of the drug, even though it has been a month since I last had it but the side effects I am experiencing are not too bad so the doctors feel it is still safe to give me the drug. We will see if the reduced amount makes any difference.

Last time I had to come back for a shot of Neulasta to give my immune system a boost. The nurse today said that she thinks the chemo has finally worn down my immune system so she believes I will need to get this extra shot each time I have a treatment. It did work really well last time, apparently my white blood cell count is really high today. I asked if there was a way I could get the shot somewhere else, closer to home but the only way to avoid coming to the hospital is to administer the shot myself. This is a fairly common practice and definitely something I would be willing to do (actually I would have Kevin do it, he is quite the shot administrator expert at this point having been diabetic for 25 years) but the only way I could do it is if I qualified for pharmacy assistance which I have already been denied. The reason for this is because the drug itself costs $4000 per shot! So I will have to continue to come to the hospital each time. We are going to apply for manufacturer assistance, however. If we are able to get that, then I could get the drug free and take it home. It will take a couple of months probably to find out if we qualify, but perhaps there will be some time in the future that I could take the drug home rather than come back to the hospital.

All in all, things are going quite well. I am plugging along, the chemo is helping and I am able to lead a pretty normal life most of the time. I have been greatly blessed and I appreciate all of the prayers and support you have given me. I couldn’t do this alone! This is treatment #7, only 5 more to go. I can do this.