Chemo - Round 1
So I got to the BC Cancer Agency at 8:30am. I was having 3 kinds of chemotherapy drugs administered today, as I will every time but today they had to run them all separately so they could see if there would be any kind of allergic reaction to any of the chemo drugs.
My first drug was the Herceptin which is the drug that is made specifically to target any HER2 cells that may have escaped from my tumour into my bloodstream landing possibly somewhere else in my body. It only kills those cells, and only works when given with a standardized chemotherapy regimn. It needed to run through the IV for 1.5hours and then I was going to be observed for 1 hour following that drug administration.
All went smoothly and we went onto the next drug called Cyclophosphamide. It is one part out of two of the standardized chemotherapy drugs. It was run over 1 hour through IV into my bloodstream. I had some side effects during adminstration my nose got a tingling sensation like a sinus clog and some funny zinging pains through my head. Nothing to noteworthy. All was good.
Next came the third drug called docetaxel. It is the second part of the standardized chemotherapy and again administered through my IV into the bloodstream. It was run over 1 hour and I had no side effects during this time. It wasn't until the last couple of minutes on the last drug that I started feeling my throat get large/tight and my upper chest having pressure or squeezing. Well needless to say a furry of activity took place with nurses and doctors and you name it, within a minute or two and I was on my way to a sleep induced state of anti-histamine - steroid-ventolin nebulizer you name it!! They got it under control within a few minutes but scary...oh I can't even tell you how scary that was. I have never had any kind of breathing problems in my life and I hate choking on anything so you can only imagine this episode!! None the less, it landed me an extra hour of observation and we did not get home until 6:00pm!! It was a LONG day.
So my next cycle will be in 21 days. I have 4 cycles of the standard chemo with Herceptin. Then continued to a full year of just Herceptin.
Overall a good day. Lots of chatting with lovely people around us, and my Auntie and I managed not to get into too much trouble. Phil and Auntie were there all day taking turns in the visitors chair. I also had a special visit from Kimberly which was really nice.
Herceptin drug administration
Tired after a long day in the chemo chair with a multitude of drugs being poured into me. Wowzaz!
