The doctor visit yesterday went well. There were no surprises, I learned some good information, and got prepped for the upcoming chemo. Oh boy, this time, I get a shot every 9 weeks, and I’ll be taking some meds during chemo week. ( More stuff to remember to do—I’ll probably have sticky notes all over the house to remind me. Apologies in advance to my roommates!)

In a recent previous blog entry, I mentioned that I equated 2^nd line chemo drugs with the 2^nd level antibiotics—I thought they were more potent, more intense. I was wrong in that assumption. 2^nd line chemo is just that; different medicines because the first drugs didn’t work.

My new regimen will be chemo every 3^rd week (just like I did back in the summer), starting this Thursday. My new chemo drug is Alimta, which will take about 30 minutes to administer, so my entire afternoon won’t be spent at Happy Juice Junction. I’ll be able to drive myself to and from treatments, too. I asked if the side effects of the new chemo drug were listed in order of probability, and the doctor said not necessarily. They are listed in order of what the doctors can measure, and then what patients report the most. The side effects listed are: decreased platelet, white, and red blood cell counts, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss --really??--constipation, hair loss, mouth sores and a few more I can't remember. I might get them all, or I might not get any. Can’t wait for that, you betcha!

I told my doctor that I had decided against participating in the research study, and he told me that I didn’t qualify for it anyway. My liver spot is too small. So now I don’t have to feel guilty about not helping to provide data for cancer research. Good, it’s one less thing on the plate.

¶ 2:48 PM