the Red Devil

My dear friend, Cari M. drove me to Huntsman and stayed with me today.  Anyone who willingly picks me up at 6:30 a.m. to take me for treatment or procedures is a saint in my book!  We had some unexpected surprises and I'm glad she was there.

Doxorubicin, most commonly known as the "Red Devil" - I had this drug in 2010 when my cancer party started.  I'd say that, other than killing cancer cells, there's not much good to say about it.  It has lots of side effects.  Mouth sores, blistering on the palms of hands and bottoms of feet, joint and bone pain, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, taste distortion, heart issues, etc.  My oncologist at the time, Dr. Prystas, told me that I had reached my lifetime limit for Doxorubicin.   

The drug I had today was Doxorubicin Liposomal, the upgraded version is tolerated better, but still has all the potential side effects I've mentioned, and more.  The nurse told me that if I was going to have an allergic  reaction, it would happen in the first few minutes. 

She came to get the drip started and within about two minutes, I had a reaction to it.  My heart started beating out of my chest, so fast and something weird was going on in my brain.  She immediately stopped the drip and pushed a button that alerted other nurses to come help.  They gave me a steroid, then I heard them talking about Benadryl, "25 or 50".  I blurted out "50!" trying to be funny.  I don't ultimately know which they gave me, but it must have been 50 mg because when I was talking to my friend, Cari, I started getting really confused and kind of slurring my speech.  That's when I decided I'd better just go to sleep before I made a complete fool out of myself!    

I've waited two months for today's treatment.  Knowing about the tumors in my liver have literally made me crazy.  Even though I learned about them two months ago, they had been growing for some time before that because the genetics of my cancer changed and the chemo I had been doing for 3 or 4 months before that hadn't been working.  It's one thing to have cancer in your bones, but when it moves to a vital organ?  That's no joke.  I'm sure I've eaten my body weight in chocolate the last two months.  It's how I cope!  I'm grateful to be surrounded by so many dear friends who would do anything for me.  I'm so grateful for everyone that loves me (our family) and helps me through all the hard stuff.