Chemo Time

I am now on Day 12 of this treatment cycle. On days 1–4 I received the major meds. Four of those meds were via 24-hr nonstop IVs — I was connected to and carried around a camera-type bag with the chemo inside. During those days I also took heavy steroids (not the body-building kind) plus several other meds including some to counteract/prevent various side effects.

It was no fun to be tethered to a shoulder bag. Especially when the contents of the bag have names like Cisplatin and Cyclophosphomide. Plus the steroids caused fluid retention and I gained over 15 pounds in around 3 days. I didn’t see it in the mirror but my parents say I “bulked up.” Then I spent a night waking up every hour to pee and within another day or so (of peeing) my weight was back to where it was before I left LA.

That was several days ago. Since then I’ve been feeling generally ok but low energy as my blood counts have been dropping (due to the chemo). Thankfully mom has kept me well fed/nourished. I don’t have a big appetite or any interest in eating out, so it’s been smaller meals and snacks throughout the day and the kitchen is stocked.

Yesterday I started receiving shots of Granix, which will build back my white counts and also facilitate mobilization/collection of my stem cells. That’s the reason we’re here. If all goes as planned, we will visit the clinic each morning and afternoon this week for the Granix shots and by the end of the week we can start cell collection.