A Chemo Tip

 

I have been taking chemo treatments monthly (sometimes twice monthly) for 16 years; Jan 2025 started my 17th year.

One might say I have some experience.

Some of my treatment involved me taking what I call, WICKED CHEMO, and caused me to become very sick...  so much so that my wife had to take me to the ER to get me to quit vomiting.

The trick that I learned was this:

Ask for two different nausea meds.  My two are ZOFRAN and COMPOZINE.  As soon as your chemo treatments are over and not more than four hours afterwards (the sooner the better) take a nausea pill.

The package will say for you to take the pills every four hours...

HOWEVER...

and this is the trick...

You can take them every two hours IF YOU ALTERNATE between the two pills.

Once I started taking nausea pills every two hours after the WICKED CHEMO, I never got sick (Vomiting) again and no more trips to the ER.

Living With Cancers & Heart Disease

For the last 13 (almost 14 years) I have been dealing with heart disease from the standpoint of having a heart attack from 3 blocked heart arteries and 5 stents inserted.  Results are that my heart is working normally but I have to be really careful with what I am eating and really careful with my physical exertion so as not to overdo it.  I have handicapped liscense plates because I can no longer walk very far without being out-of-breath.

For the last 13 (almost 14 years) I have been dealing with preventing two types of cancers from simultaneously growing in my body and for the first 10 years was not that successful but for the last 3 years have been relatively successful...

During the last 13 years, I have experienced surgery, chemotheraphy, immunotherapy, and radiation.  My treatments have caused me to experience nausea, fatigue, anemia, and a destroyed immune system along with damaging my thyroid.

The treatments that I took to suppress my Lymphoma caused me to contract Melanoma which from the getgo was very aggressive and moved from my foot to my groin to my neck...  however, once it got to my neck and was surgically removed, the cancer cells were all dead.

I get a PET scan or a CT scan every 3 months to see if my cancers are displaying any metabolic activity.  My next scan is this coming Monday or in two days.

Other than having cancers hanging over your head and having to watch what you eat, and how you must dress when out in the sun, I am living a relatively normal life. 

I don't eat red meat except for maybe once or twice a year.  I don't eat fried foods except for maybe once or twice a year.  I stay away from sugar but that is not as easy as it sounds.

I eat veges, chicken, veal, a variety of beans, and fish mainly.  The fish I prefer is Salmon, Cod, and Flounder.

SIDE EFFECTS

2:16 am} and, I cannot sleep...

Retired, so I worry about very little other than what am I going to do tomorrow...

My eyes and body feel tired but when I lay down in the bed, I feel wide awake and just lay there wondering when the drowsiness will put me to sleep...

So, here I am drinking coffee with a little Cappuccino Mix in it to make it swallow a little easier...   and actually, I think I have become addicted to this sugar-free or fat-free mix because straight coffee no longer tastes good to me which is typically all I used to drink after being in the Navy...

I was in communications and worked in the Radio Shack on the USS Recovery ARS-43 which was a salvage and rescue ship.  It had less than 100 men aboard her and every two years she would spend 6 months in the Mediterranean Sea patrolling outfitted with the latest surveillance gear before leaving port at Little Creek, VA which was part of the Norfolk Naval Base.

About 1:00 am this morning I awoke from sleep because I had to take a piss and after laying back down in my soft, comfortable warm bed, laid there for a hour unable to return to sleep.

Because of my non-Hodgkin's "B" cell Lymphoma, I take 2 - 140 mg tablets of IMBRUVICA  daily which is considered an Immunotherapy Drug, not a Chemotherapy Drug.

Common side effects of Imbruvica include:

low platelet count,

diarrhea,

neutropenia,

anemia,

fatigue,

musculoskeletal pain,

muscle spasms,

joint pain,

swelling of the extremities,

fever,

upper respiratory tract infection,

cough,

shortness of breath,

nausea,

bruising,

indigestion,

constipation,

rash,

abdominal pain,

vomiting,

decreased appetite,

swelling of the mouth and lips,

urinary tract infection,

pneumonia,

skin infections,

sinus infection,

weakness,

nosebleed,

decreased appetite,

dehydration,

dizziness, and

headache.

Of course, my inability to sleep could be coming from my enlarged prostate and a PSA count that was twice what it was last year and over the recommended amount and the reason why I am going to a Urologist to see if I have prostate cancer next week.

In addition to my IMBRUVICA, I am receiving a monthly infusion of OPDIVO to control my Metastatic Melanoma which in a matter of 41/2 years went from my foot to my groin to my neck; although, when it was removed from my neck, the Melanoma was DEAD thanks to the radiation treatments I had along with the OPDIVO infusions; apparently, when OPDIVO is combined with radiation, the radiation super-charges the OPDIVO to fight the Melanoma...   lucky me...

Common side effects of Opdivo include:

• fatigue
• rash
• itching
• cough
• upper respiratory tract infection
• swelling of the extremities
• shortness of breath
• muscle pain
• decreased appetite
• nausea
• vomiting
• constipation
• diarrhea
• weakness
• swelling
• fever
• abdominal pain
• chest pain
• joint pain
• weight loss
• irregular heartbeat
• eye inflammation
• infusion-related reactions
• increased amylase
• increased lipase
• dizziness
• numbness and tingling
• skin peeling
• skin redness and
• psoriasis.

YEAH...  I was pretty frigging amazed when I saw these two lists too...  I have been taking immunotherapy drugs for two years but I have also been taking chemotherapy drugs for 10 years, all of which basically has the same side effects...   

WHILE sleeplessness in not on the list...  WTF...  I experience it once or twice a week like clockwork...