I had a CT scan the day before this cycle started and my doctor was very pleased with the results so that was good news. The only not so good event was when I changed my medications and diet for one day in preparation for the CT scan I got a little light headed while driving. I drifted out of my lane and scraped a bridge. Luckily there was no serious damage to the car (or us), we just scraped a wheel and damaged a wheel cover. A check of alignment and a tire rotation and we were good to go. Going to have to be very careful about driving for a short while. This had the potential of being worse than going aground in the ICW in March. Carol didn't react quick enough then either. Gonna get in trouble for that last sentence. Anyway, got lucky. All is good now.
As mentioned in my last post, we are based in Old Lyme now so our drive to Hartford is less than an hour. That helps.
Day 1 of this cycle had some issues as they gave me my retuxin at a flow rate of 150mg/hr instead of 150ml/hr. This was way too slow. Took forever. 5 1/2 hours instead of 3 1/2. Boring. Very boring. That was two errors in two cycles here at Smilow. This one was on the conservative side, no problems. The first, last month, could have caused a reaction but it didn't. I felt the difference in the slightly too high infusion rate last month. Too slow this month only caused boredom. Probably unrelated but overnight between day 1 and day 2 I had nausea and a wicked headache. No vomiting, just didn't feel good. As good as my reaction to chemo has been my oncologist said I'd start to feel worse as I got down towards the end of my therapy, Cycles 5 and 6. Oh well. We will see.
After day 2 of this cycle we are back on the boat. We took it up to Hamburg Cove on the Connecticut River for the weekend because it's a very wind protected cove and we sat out a Tropical Storm here many years ago with good results. No results actually. In a major storm, no results are good. It is forecast to be very windy. The wind protection will not stop the near freezing temperatures, however. Did I mention more than a dozen times in the last few entries how much I hate the cold? You'd never know how long we lived through Southern New England winters before we became snowbirds.
Anyway, day 2 of this cycle went easy. It usually does. Only one drug and it's only 15 minutes after about 30 minutes of prep. This blog won't be posted until a few days have passed. I want be sure there are no issues. There shouldn't be but I wouldn't want to jinx it by being over confident.
As I resume writing this entry (and wrap it up) it is day 4 of this cycle, Sunday. It continues to be very cold and windy but today is sunny so it has warmed the boat up nicely. We had some snowflakes just before sunset yesterday. Snow! In May! Ridiculous! Saturday, day 3, I took my anti-nausea meds as a precaution. Maybe I would have needed them as I had a hint of 'not quite feeling right' but I take them as recommended by my Miami infusion nurses not as suggested by those up here. Sticking with what I know and has worked for me so far. Today, Sunday,
I feel fine. Sometimes the vague 'not so good' feeling lingers into Sunday but not today. That's nice.
So, to recap, the first 4 days of Cycle 5 have passed. Minor events occurred but all is good. Still. Feel fine. Blood and scan results are good. One more cycle is planned for June then there will be more tests about six weeks later. Those will point to the directions we will take in the future. Will we have future 'maintenance' chemo? Will we just monitor my blood numbers? There is no way to really know yet. Like many who have had a cancer of some kind it is always in the back of your mind, if you're lucky. It can be in the front of your mind as you directly deal with the treatment but it can slip out of your immediate future if things go well. But, it is never going to go away entirely. Back of your mind is better than front of mind anyway. We can hope.
Humm, have I said that before?
