The day after we returned from the superbowl I was back to business with my first chemo infusion of the new drugs. The day started with complications with my new port placement. Given this is the third time they have had to open me up, the wound hadn't healed, and worse the port was directly behind the incision making it unusable. So for this week's treatment I had to take it through a vein in my right hand which was very unpleasant. It burned, a lot. They diluted it as much as they could with saline which also meant the treatment took a whole day (should have been only ~4 hrs). For this round of chemo I am receiving Gemcitabine (aka Gemzar) and Cisplatin. The Cisplatin has platinum at the nucleus so guessing this stuff is fairly expensive. I receive both drugs week 1, the Gemzar week 2, then a week off. With the Cisplatin I have to take potassium and magnesium supplements in giant horse pills every day 7 days following treatment. I also have to take steroids and anti-nausea meds twice a day for 3 days after treatment which pretty much put me in a fog. And with this chemo and side meds I have been experiencing pretty strong fatigue. I try to nap when I can and save my energy when I need it. I hate this part of chemo, if I'm going to be sick I'd like to keep my energy for playing with my kids, they are my motivation for going through all this mess! With some of the adjustments in nutrition prior to chemo my liver function did show some improvement with ~20 pts reductions in two areas and about ~100 pt reduction in another area. But it was still out of range for the clinical trial. Hoping we see continued improvement at my next labs, this chemo is pretty rough, it's hard not knowing how my rounds of treatment I'll be receiving.
Back in the infusion chair
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