Good news on the tumour markers in my blood which have gone down from 135 to 65, a decrease which Dr A described as “significant†and very encouraging considering that I haven’t been receiving the full amount of all three of the drugs that they usually give.
The tumour markers are seen in the weekly blood tests and are an indication of the progress of the cancer – see this ref in Wikipedia for more info.
Another long day yesterday at Cookridge getting in at 9.45 am and not leaving until 8.10pm, a recurring pattern for when I have the treatment which involves oxaliplatin. (I left home at 8.15 and didn’t return until after 9.)
I had an appointment with Dr A the oncologist to review the administration of the daily oral chemotherapy drug capecitabine which has been giving me diahorrea and other bowel problems. Unlike, the staff at Halifax he seemed concerned about these problems and interested in how to solve them prescribing me codeine sulphate instead of the loperamide which doesn’t seem to control the problems very well and yet seems to lead to bowel obstructions. Nice to get as many opiates as possible. Such a pity that they don’t seem to have the same effects on me as they do on most other people. No pleasant feelings of floating away, or hours of blissful oblivion, they just do the job of killing the pain and nothing else.
The news that the treatment seems to be having some effect came at the right time as after this dose of oxaliplatin I felt very ill indeed. I had to ask Lesley, my driver for the day, (thanks again Lesley) to stop her car twice on the way home whilst I threw up into the kerbside worrying all the time that any passer by would think I was a drunk & feeling terribly embarrassed to be vomiting in front of friends. The sickness carried on at home where I had to go straight to bed.
This is the first time I’ve had sickness like this and it seemed odd after being given a anti-histamine, steroid and strong anti-emetic to counteract nausea. However, I think I’ve worked out what happened. Because of the lateness of the treatment I was transferred from the day ward to another one. At the end of the drugs administration they give a saline flush. When the nurse came to remove this flush she was surprised to find I’d been hooked up to a dextrose infusion and not a saline one. As it was by now getting very late indeed she gave me a bolus rather than an infusion of saline. I presume this may be what caused my extreme sickness later on.
I also have bad vein pain in my right arm which means I can’t do much with it and am cursing myself for not reminding them to use my left hand for the treatment.
The oncologist said that from the decline of the tumour markers in my blood he expected to see a reduction in the size of the tumours in my body at my next scan which takes place on the 31st. January.
I think that the dextrose drip did had an effect on my sugar levels, Julie, especially as between receiving the cituximab and the oxaliplatin I have an hour’s break during which I am given dextrose by infusion.
The same procedure goes on for the delivery and start up of the cytotoxic drugs, Jack but not the dextrose or saline infusions which is where the mistake (if it was one) occurred.
I am still feeling pretty dreadful today, I was sick for a lot of last night.
Hiya Elaine, sorry I missed you on Thursday when I popped up, didn’t know your day had been changed. Sounds like a shit day all round, apart from the better markers bit. Would the dextrose drip have had an impact on your sugars/diabetes and helped to make you sick? Found the poem instructive/helpful.
Big hugs as ever, seeya soon. xxx Julie
Having become familiar with infusions myself at our regional cancer center, I can appreciate the foul-ups that can occur. Close monitoring and back-checking of patients are not easy when the nurses station is very busy. At least in our place, the delivery and start-up of the drug is double-checked for patient and drug/dosage identification by two nurses standing over me. The Cookridge place sounds more friendly than the Halifax one, Elaine. I’m sure we agree on the importance of that!
Heard Julia Darling’s play a year or two ago on Radio 4 and was totally enthralled then – Ididn’t realize it was autobiographical – I’m not surprised it had such resonances for you. 1’m going to buy “The Poetry Cure” for Rosie so thanks for the link to Julia’s website.
Excellent news about the markers( the Elaine factor again!) but vomiting experience sounded dreadful – good that you seem to have identified the reason- you’ll be able to prevent it happening again.
Good that the markers are down “significantly”. Did the doctor comment on the (oh God I really can’t remember any words anymore) significance of this for your health?
Sorry to hear about the kerbside vomiting, but freshly pregnant women do it all the time! And they don’t even look pregnant!