Day 339 - Round 6 of AVD

Yuck. Barf. Sick. Eew. Gross. Horrid. No. 


Those are a few of the words I would use to describe today. It sucked. Hard core. (sorry, it's not a positive post today!) 


My neutrophils were 6.2, so I was well high enough to have treatment. I shouldn't have taken the 2nd neupogen shot, as I had horrible bone pain again. The lab tech didn't hurt me when she took blood, so that was nice!


I wore the afro wig & Dr. Daly wasn't impressed. I guess he likes blondes better. :o) We talked about arm pain & we'll see how the next few treatments go, otherwise it's going to be a port-o-cath for me. Boo.


Marilyn, Sam & Noreen did my treatment today. The Vinblastine went in fine. The Adriamycin hurt. Usually it doesn't. It took 25 minutes instead of 10. The Dacarbazine hurt like a son of a gun. (to be polite!) And it took 2 hours. Talk about torture. I started to feel nauseated part way through the treatment. It didn't get any better. I was completely stuffed up in my sinuses, my eyes felt all puffy & swollen & my tongue felt thick. Great.


I nibbled on a garden fresh carrot for most of the treatment, just to keep something in my mouth & give it a flavour, other than the icky taste of the chemo. Mom stopped by in the early stage of the treatment & then left to run errands. Jaco also left to pick up a few things. In fact, he was so busy that he was late! I was finished my treatment, waiting to go home & try to survive & he was nowhere to be seen! I was the last person in the treatment room, so I held Noreen up too! I was getting worried that something had happened or he was lost. I called Mom & asked her to come & get me. She was just about to leave when Jaco walked in the door! Thank goodness! (He was picking up sushi & Jugo Juice - bless his heart, but I can't eat/drink much after treatment!)


I was VERY ill again tonight. In fact, I swore I was going to perish if I had to endure this 6 more times. Sorry if your stomach gets queasy, but I've never vomited like this before. I'm throwing up so hard I'm unable to breathe. It sucks. I managed to break blood vessels along my esophagus, so there was blood too. It's impossible to describe the feeling my body experienced, but I never want to experience it again. What's that you say? Weren't there drugs I was given to prevent me from getting sick? Yes, I was given a 24 hr anti-emetic, an 8 hr anti-emetic & a 6 hr anti-emetic. They didn't work. 


I do this bizarre groaning, grunting, holding my breath thing when I'm sick. At some point, Valentina was on my belly sleeping, but when she got up to crawl under the covers, she grunted & groaned the entire time she slowly moved under the blankets. It was cute. (Perhaps the best part of the night - my grunting dog!)


Worst of all, I'd just love to fall asleep & wake up the next morning. But no. It was midnight by the time I drifted into slumber. Brutal. I am so glad my husband is here with me. I don't know if I would have made it through the day without him. (Although if he would have been much later picking me up, I wouldn't have had a choice!) :o) Thanks Babe, I'm so happy you're here with/for me.


Here's to an expedited latter half of this hell they call chemo. I'll end it on a positive note - it was a beautiful, hot, sunny day today!


xxxxMJV&O

Beyoncé makes her debut.