Today was my chemotherapy with the new drug Adriamycin/Cytoxan. I arrived at the hospital at 8:15 for blood work and headed up to the cardiac department for the echocardiogram. I was taken in at 9:10 and was out of there within 45 minutes. (the echocardiogram had to be done before they would give me the Adriamycin. They wanted to make sure my heart was okay before proceeding and to get a baseline test in case I developed problems from the drug down the road). I also had an appointment with the nurse at the Breast Care Center, why I am not sure because I sat there for almost 2 hours before they had the results of the echo. I was pissed off that I had to wait that long for results of a test. I can't believe they couldn't get a doc to take a look at the study when they knew I was waiting for treatment. Finally at 12 noon I went to the day hospital for the infusion. I had a great nurse, Abbie, who remembered me from the time I had a reaction the first time. She had helped with my care that time. She hooked me up to my premeds which consisted of Zofran for nausea and a steroid. That took about 15 minutes. What is different with Adriamycin is it has to be hand injected by a nurse. She had two 50 mL syringes filled with a nice red liquid that she hand injected over 15 minutes. Adriamycin is very hard on the veins, so she was really careful about making sure the line was open as she injected. She frequently checked to make sure she could get a blood return. Over and done with that! On to the Cytoxan which is in a bag. That took an hour. Flush and done!!!!!!! NO REACTION!!!!!!
IT WORKED!!!!! HALFWAY THROUGH CHEMO TREATMENTS. ONLY 2 MORE TO GO!!!!!!
Now that is progress!!!!!!!!!! I sat in my nice lounge chair in the sun with a nice view of the pond and read my book the entire time. It sounds just like a spa doesn't it!!!???? NOT!!!
I will wait and see how the side effects hit me this weekend. But for now, I am soooo glad that I finally made it through a treatment.
Tonight... I am planning on going out to dinner with my book club ladies.
2 comments:
Gail,
I am so happy for you, other than the wait, your day was a success! YEAH!!!!!!! Isn't it weird how we feel getting poison in our bodies is a success. But those of us that have been through it, know it is a success.
I hope the side effects are minimal for you this weekend! Thank God you are 1/2 way done! Connie
Yea! Yea! Glad it went well--Halfway done! Hope your weekend is restful! I'll think of you each time I take my Zofran!
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