And not because there is new snow and ice on the ground from heavy storms overnight. The scratching awakened me at midnight as the storms raked the area for a few hours. I eventually went back to a fairly sound sleep. Sun is out, but it's 30' F outside this morning.
No, my feet are getting cold because the new Chemo caps arrived late afternoon yesterday; too late for anyone at the center to confirm and approve the start of therapy. So much for doing things by the book. One would think there’d be more than one contact rep. for this kind of situation, yeah, one would think. Silly of me, I know. So the drug sits in its toxic plastic bag until I get confirmation to begin the therapy. (Click the image above to embiggen.)
Pity, I hoped to begin as soon as the drug was delivered; looking forward to it, in fact. Not so much anymore. This gave me oodles of time to read the detailed documentation that arrived in the package. It’s printed on 5 single-sided legal sheets of paper in about a #8 font face.
What I read scared me quite a bit. And unfortunately, I've had all night to think about this stuff. Handling this drug is like dealing with toxic waste. No crushed tabs, no opening tabs for any reason (why would one want to do this?) and if skin contact is made with the product inside the tab, the area should be cleaned and scrubbed properly and the doctor’s office made aware of the “accident” immediately.
Hey! This stuff is going into my body and I cannot touch it? Needless to say, I have plenty of questions for the nurse when she finally returns my call.
The side effects are basically the usual suspects; diarrhea, dizziness, weight loss, vomiting, etc. Been there, done that. Funny how they never mention how common (or rare) such side effects are. Don’t get me wrong, I am not afraid of dying, quite the contrary. I am afraid of suffering, endless pain, and/or organ failure.
I will hold the Panic Button until I get some real answers to some important questions. Wish me luck.
More later.
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eeeew.
ReplyDeleteI will keep your sister in my thoughts today, hoping all goes well with her surgery.
SIGH.......... positive vibes and thoughts for sure. The scariest part of the journey (at least for me ) was reading the side effects. The one I shake my head with is Lovenox "don't give yourself more then 1shot in a 24 hour period) Who and the hell would do that! As hard as it is keep your chin up!
ReplyDeleteThink of it like this, if you light up in the dark it saves on turning on the lights.
ReplyDeleteHope this finally gets you the relief, sans the side effects, you need.