Round 1, FIGHT!
In the previous post, I explained what the actual prescription for my chemo looked like. If you have not read that (and you should, because context) here is a quick review:
- 3 x 3 week-long courses of BEP Chemotherapy was prescribed (9 total weeks)
- A full course consists of one week (Monday - Friday, 6 hrs each) and two, one day weeks (Tuesdays, 2 hrs each)
I used the previous post to more generally try to explain what my treatment looks like. In this post, I wanted to explain more about the impact the treatment had during the first course.
Week 1 (Monday - Friday, 6/7 hrs a day)
Medical video clip of daily chemo treatment
Originally, I thought this week would be absolutely brutal. Not just because of the daily grind of treatment but more so because getting any drug via IV for 5 straight days is bound to take its toll. In my case, I would be receiving 2 every day.
It was an interesting feeling, not unlike the first day of school, to be loading up my backpack to head out at 8 AM on a Monday but there I was, doing just that. The morning of September 11th, I packed up my bag with -- what would become my daily care kit -- my Nalgene water bottle, laptop, Nintendo Switch and headphones. Since there was concern about just how well I would respond to treatment, my mom drove me to the facility for the first few days of treatment (okay.. So it was a lot like the first day of school). For subsequent treatments, I drove myself.
Specialized port needle. Might not look like it.. but it does make things easier.
Once I checked in, I was weighed, my blood pressure taken and then temperature and pulse recorded as well (This would be an everyday part of the check-in process). Once the vitals were completed, they hooked up the port via a specialized needle and "flush" the port with saline to do a "quick" blood draw of paltry 7 vials of blood for the first of 9 weekly blood tests.
The blood tests are to check that your body is responding to the treatment without totally falling apart (e.g. liver/kidney function, white cell count, red cell count) and establish a baseline for treatment that week. This completed, I walked back to the chemo area to select an open lazy-boy recliner chair for treatment (there are 18 total chairs, of varying levels of occupation depending on the day).
Treatment basically consists of sitting in that chair for however long is needed, in my case 6 - 7 hours a day this week.
In all honesty, I spend most of my time during treatments playing the Nintendo Switch I was graciously gifted by my friends especially for chemo (again, best gift ever). You don't -- or at least I didn't -- "feel" the treatment really. I would equate it to the same feeling you get when you take Robitussin or a similar medication in that it kind of gives you "medicine head" but you don't "feel" much.
The nurses are especially attentive during the first week (again, can't say enough about the staff I've worked with so far) since allergic reactions can be common, especially to the Bleomycin drug. Generally speaking, however, I seemed to react to the treatment well and spent almost the whole week either a) Playing the Nintendo Switch; b) blogging for you savages.
For this first week, I tended to crash fairly hard coming out of treatment. It was explained early on that and subsequently hammered into your skull that, "the fatigue will be cumulative". That is certainly accurate as I usually took a nap when I got home, woke up and had lunch, then went back to bed by 8:30 or 9:00 PM. Rinse and repeat for 5 days.
The most common side effect for me was/is definitely Fatigue. Since the start of treatment, there has been this lingering feeling of tiredness both physical and psychological. If you've pulled a succession of all-nighters in the past, I would say that's what it feels like. It's workable but certainly sub-optimal. Concentration can also become an issue from the fatigue as well.
Not pictured: Chemotherapy, Success
I didn't really have any expectations for side effects coming into treatment other than bracing myself for the worst possible (nausea, loss of appetite, aches and pains, brain tooth and other potential side effects). I think that was helpful for me. Not having expectations made me more aware of my body and made sure I didn't "psyche" myself out prior to treatment. Other than fatigue, there weren't many side effects week 1.
Next post, I'll talk about some of the fun side-effects that week 2 brought.
