My first dose of chemo

18 Feb 08, Monday - I was to have a ct scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvis done in the morning.

Dr Wong told me that she planned to start me on a smaller weekly dose instead of a full dose every three weeks, as I was very sick then. She would be writing the prescription and I would be having my chemo that afternoon. I was to have my first dose of chemo, well, about one-third of a dose (I found out later that it was more than one-third).

Then she led my husband, eldest brother and third sis-in-law out of the room to talk to them. Oh, crap! So Dr Wong didn't want me to hear. I didn't like that! What was it about my condition that she could not discuss in front of me? After a long talk with my family members, she didn't come back to me.

My onco is smart. I didn't know what she told my family members and she got my husband to sign the permission for chemo even though I told her I could sign for it myself. While she told me that she would give me one third of the dose for 3 weeks instead of a full dose every three weeks, she actually sneaked in more than a third of the dose for each week. Well, she must have found me to be a difficult patient too, always questioning her decision.

I had a plug set in my left arm. This is for iv feed of the chemo drugs and sometimes for drawing of blood for testing.

Before they administered the chemo, the nurse would flush the plug with saline solution to ensure there was no blockage. Then, they connect 3 joints of valves in a row and connect it to the plug. One is for the saline solution. As for the other two valves, one of them has two inlets, so there is one for each drug. The tube of the drug that was running would be threaded through a machine that would give a beeping noise to alert the nurse when the drug runs out. The nurse would then remove this tube from the machine and another one would be put through, at the same time the corresponding valves would either be closed or opened. This would ensure smooth continuation from one pack of drug to the next and save the trouble of having to disconnect and re-connect.

Before chemo, I was given panadol and the pre-med, benadryl (or benadrill) and kytril. Both are given by iv. Benadryl is for itching. Kytril is to prevent nausea and vomitting. I had to wait half an hour for the pre-meds to take effect. Then, it was Herceptin, followed by the chemo drugs, Docetaxol and Carboplatin. The drugs are prescribed according to the patient's body weight, and each is mixed with 250 ml of saline solution and administered by iv.

I think benadryl contains steroid as it causes a biting sensation on our bottoms and the sensation was almost immediate. It also caused me to be so drowsy, I couldn't sleep but I also couldn't stay awake. I was in some kind of stupor and I really hated it. As it was the first time I was using benadryl, I was really stoned. All in, my chemo iv lasted a few hours, and at the end of it, I had to force myself to be alert and had a late dinner. Also, by then my bladder was very full with 3 x 250 ml of saline solution.