Four down (12 to go)

Thursday morning Jeannie received her fourth and final round of adriamycin and cytoxan. That’s the good news. But in two weeks she starts a weekly treatment of taxol. The infusion nurses told her she has done so well with these first two drugs that taxol may be a walk in the park for her by comparison. Jeez. The names themselves sound toxic. Adriamycin at least sounds like an antibiotic. In reality the nurses wear a gown over their clothing while administering it. The large syringes come in a plastic bag. In one of Jeannie’s last packages there was some leakage. Folks this stuff went directly back to the pharmacy. There was no thought of opening it to see if it could be used. Nothing is administered without two nurses confirming the id numbers and the patient number. When they saw the leak in the one bag it was outta there.  The reality is that the stuff is very toxic. The pharmaceutical companies haven’t even tried to pretty up the names. To me the generic names sound tamer than the brand names. Cytoxan is cyclophosphamid. Taxol is paclitaxel. Almost sound like something that wanted to be a pacifist. Jeannie also told me tonight that she has what she’s come to call chemo burps for a few days after each “treatment”. But unlike a pleasant little barbeque belch or chocolate cake burp, this has poisonous overtones. The lucky among us can only imagine.  

Although Jeannie’s white blood count remains strong she’s firm in her resolve to avoid crowds. Thus no Italian festival for us this weekend. Early Saturday morning she woke up with a nagging cough. Like 3am early. And she had kind of a runny nose that day too. It got my attention. But it looks more like the cough was from drying out her throat by snoring. A couple spoonfuls of honey and everything was better. The treatments definitely cause some additional fatigue and sleeping for a few days. The great unknown is how the taxol will affect her since everything hits everyone differently. The infusion is always preceded by a good strong iv dose of Benadryl. Healthy girl has never had Benadryl so she has no idea how it hits her (okay I’ve never had it either I don’t think). Since taxol can cause neuropathy she’s also come up with another cold treatment to fight off the affects of the chemo on areas that don’t need treatment. In addition to the cold caps on her head she’ll have cold mittens and booties for her hands and feet. She’s just going to be a little ice cube. But if it prevents her fingernails and toe nails from turning black and falling off what’s a little chill. And if it prevents a loss off feeling well it’s really worth it.

Tuesday is our anniversary. Last year we had a nice little getaway in the Hocking Hills. This year I’ll try to come up with a nice little meal at home.