Tuesday, May 08, 2007

3 Bags of IL-2 down, but not without a hitch...

Weeeelll, I am now in the hospital receiving my IL-2 treatments. I have now received 3 bags.

First, as of yesterday morning, I had to pop in to see the oncologist for one final go over, just to make sure everything looked just right to begin treatments. Just that one last checkup.

Then it was off to be admitted to the hospital's bone marrow unit and get checked into my room. Talk about a NICE room. It is HYUGE! Only got to linger there for a little bit of time before someone came to fetch me for my PICC line installation.
Let me just tell you, that was wierd of the highest order....Well, maybe not the highest, as I am sure there are many, many stranger things in the freaky world in which we live. All the same, it was bizzarro. I stared at the x-ray display of that thin catheter going all the way from my upper arm as it looped downward toward and into the area of my heart.
Not only that, but I could see quite a few dark spots in my lungs, which I assumed are my lung mets. Lovely.

But.

I partly wondered too, if by my next round, which will be May 21st, if while they are inserting the PICC line that time, I can peek once again at those x-ray pics....and if those spots look smaller.....hmmmm. I wonder if that would mean what I would think it would mean? Wouldn't that be nice?

As a side note, when I went in to speak with the oncologist on my May 3rd appointment (last Thursday) he told me that another sign that might indicate that my tumors are responding to the IL-2 is that my pain my lessen.

I blurted out "HEY-YEAH!! A BONUS to these side effects!...finally!!
Both the doc and my husband looked at me like I had lost my mind. heheh. Actually, that happened a lot longer ago than that very moment.

As far as side effects I have experienced so far from the IL-2, mostly, I have just been tired and out of it off and on. Sometimes I am more with it; other times...I am NOT.
Oh, and of course, I have had the nausea...fabulous. AS a couple other people who have done IL-2 have mentioned, the vomitting was reminiscent of the exorcist. I know...too much info there. But it was as always can be expected from the technicolor yawn, nasty.

Now, I am sitting here feeling like a wimp...They had to hold my 4th bag because my heart rate shot up too high. I also had a temp of 103, which they think may be playing a part in why my heart rate shot up.

I did mention to them too, that I was recieving an anxiety medication on a regular basis before my hospital stay, and that now (at that time I found out the dose was being held) I didn't remember when the last time I had it was. I was moody times 1000, and my anxiety was definitely ramped up into the nosebleeds section. Had to go through this whole round and round about which doc ordered the Xanax, so I told them which docs originally ordered it, however, the onc in charge of the IL-2 actually ordered Ativan instead, at twice the dose. So I asked them if I could be given that on a regular basis since that is how the doc ordered it. That may help my heart rate go down too...to have less panic attacks, I am sure ;)

I don't know....I just go completely batshit crazy over things that are totally out of my control....I am wiggin' and completely spazzing out over whether or not my heart rate is going to drop down below 120 now...It doesn't seem to be...so I panic some more....and of course, I know this doesn't do anything to help in that department...

Good Lord.

I need to chill. Just haven't figrured out how yet.

All I do know is this: I damn well better get more than THREE stinkin' bags of this stuff, or I will be ripshit mad. GRRRR!

WE will see...sigh.

3 comments:

Miss Melanoma said...

Well, you've got my vote, sissy. Sorry to hear about the med mix-up; there's nothing like flubbing the old anti-anxiety meds. Made me crazy while in the hospital. My friends put a sign above my hospital bed that said "Dr. Jekyll" on one side and "Mr. Hyde" on the other. Whenever I was freaking out or having a mood swing, they'd casually flip it over. It was the only non-chalant way to tell me to chill! It was all in good fun, though. Sounds like you're handling these side effects like a champ! And I"m so glad the pain is better. That's awesome. You're still in my thoughts and prayers, and I'll send that Dr. Jekyll sign your way!

-L

Anonymous said...

Hey girl, a very good sign that you are on the computer and even make SENSE..lol Sounds like the side effects aren't too bad so far..good goin'. Hey, and no pain,,,that is truly awesome..I think the ativan, if my memory serves me right and that's certainly debatable, that will help with the vomiting.

I will be praying that you can have bag 4 real soon. I do plan to give you a call soon..maybe tomorrow morning.
love,
sue

Carver said...

Dear Shannon,

It blows me away that you can write such great post on your blog after your third dose of IL 2. Heck I answered your MPIP post and said it was great that you did four doses when you had just said that you were waiting to see if you could do four. There's no reason for me to be mixing stuff up. So let me correct that here and say I think it's GREAT you have done 3 doses.

Try to give yourself a break and accept that you are an amazing person. Heck I've never met you in person but I know that with certainty. You are something else. I love your blog and am hoping against hope that the tide will turn for you soon. No matter how many doses of IL 2 you do you are a strong fighter. I hope IL 2 will be exactly the right treatment for you but either way, one day at a time and on to the next. You have lots of people rooting for you!

Love, Carver