05/04/15 - After a month of waiting & several "tentative" start dates, I *finally* got CONFIRMATION of my chemo & radiation start dates beginning a week from today! Not sure excited is the right word - more like apprehension & fear of the side effects, but I feel relieved nonetheless to at last have some concrete dates, so that treatment can finally begin & I can move FORWARD in trying to beat the evil alien in my leg!
Everyone reacts to chemo & radiation differently, so I decided to post a bit of the info provided by my doctor's office ahead of time while I am still feeling relatively well. So, here goes...
My chemo will be administered by PICC (peripherally inserted central-venous catheter), which is a soft long catheter that's inserted into an arm vein while its tip rests in a large vein near the heart. A PICC can safely remain in your vein for days, weeks or even months, although I believe they're only leaving it in for the three days & nights of "chemo-light" I'll be having. Again, for those who're just tuning in to this blog, they're only doing a small dose of chemo in my case, in order to accustom my body for the upcoming radiation treatment. They say they get better results with less side effects, as fewer radiation treatments will be required doing it this way, in conjunction with doing the chemo & radiation prior to surgery. But getting back to the subject of PICCs...
Why is a PICC used? PICCs are used to administer:
- IV fluids
- medication
- blood products
- chemotherapy
- special nutrition
Once the PICC is inserted, they'll perform an x-ray to ensure the end near my heart is in the correct position. Only once that's complete will they start the chemo.
So, I'll have chemo overnight for three days in a row, then out-patient radiation begins the same day chemo ends for 10 days.
The hospital has some classes re: radiation therapy orientation I'm going to try to attend this week. I forgot to ask if there's also a chemo class. I'll be sure to report back on those should I attend either. Meanwhile, I'd been hoping to attend some local support programs re: meditation, drumming & just hanging out with other cancer patients, but the organization requires you to become a member first, which can NOT be done online, so stay tuned on that one! Crossing fingers I'll get my fax working that I haven't used in years! :p
*[NOTE: The title of this post was inspired by Placebo's song "Hang on to Your IQ" from their self-titled debut album.]
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