5 posts tagged “cytoxan”

Facetree

Got to see the onc yesterday and get my infusion of Zometa.  Also found out that the tumor markers are still rising, so I am going to start a new chemo regiment tomorrow - Doxil and Avastin.  Doxil is the chemo, Avastin does something to the blood cells to kill the cancer.  I am already familiar with the side effects of the taxol drugs, so I don't expect too many surprises, but not looking forward to the combo.  Of course, one of the major side effects is fatigue...so, what's new right?  LOL  Thank goodness I don't have to run any marathons!  I will receive the infusions once every 3 weeks.  I will lose my hair (not a bad thing in the summer).  I will continue getting the monthly infusion of Zometa and see the onc once a month.

So, other than that, there has not been much going on.  I have not wanted to get out much and can't seem to get enough rest.  And that's without starting this chemo!  The good news was that as of yesterday, I no longer have to do the oral Cytoxan that I have been taking.  Unfortunately, there is no break - stopped the Cytoxan yesterday, on to the new cocktail tomorrow.  Ah - the joys of cancer....NOT!  LOL

Little sailboat

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Enjoyed a beautiful day yesterday...again.  And it seems that I use 'yesterday' a lot, but considering I wait to do a post til the next day, it kind of figures in there all the time.  LOL  Anyway, it was a sunny, but cool, day and I was up for the biggest part of it.  Didn't do much - we did go to the casino for a good buffet.  It does feel good to feel hungry again, even though it is almost constant and I wonder if the mind is reacting in anticipation of the dose of steroids it will get today.

Another infusion of the two poisons - and I will be done for 2 weeks.  I still find it funny that they put on the hazmat gear to give me these infusions because the cocktail is so poisonous and damages skin - but that is what they put directly into the vein to the heart.  I am supposed to not touch the chemo pills - just shake them out into the cup - because, once again, they are poisonous.  But, I throw them down my throw 14 days a month.

The little sailboat at sea is a lot like me - a small fish in a big pond.  Defiantly, I plow my way through the waves in spite of listing now and again.

Cancerous growths

From the first day of my diagnosis, I have been accepting - by God's grace I have accepted my diagnosis, treatment, restaging, remission, and the new mets party going on with a whole new round of chemo.  I started my CMF a week ago today, 21 Apr 09.  With the Prednisone, Dexamethasone and Benadryl premed, the MF infusions, and the daily Cytoxin, I just keep on going and going and going.  Smiling my way through, accepting that which I cannot change, determined to go as far as I can.  Well, not sure what's happened. 

Friday was my first pain free day since 12 Apr 2007.  Yesterday, I even got out and gardened a bit - today, I feel NORMAL pains of doing work that I am no longer accustomed to.  But yesterday was something else.  I asked my onc and the onc nurses - could I be having a psychotic break?  Is it side effects of chemo?  What is going on?  I felt rage...a very dangerous rage and one that scared me because I was going to act on that rage.  I put myself in the bedroom and shut the door - warned my husband that if he wanted to live, to leave me alone.  Kept myself from the new puppy, because I just wanted to smash it over and over against the house.  These were not just imaginings or thinking of things to relieve the rage...it was something I so easily was beginning to act upon.  I removed myself, which was a good thing.  The onc and the nurses feel it could very well be a psychotic break and that I was fortunate enough to recognize symptoms and stop the actions.  It could also be a side effect of the chemo.  It could also be, that for the first time since this all started, I realized THIS was the rest of my life.

What is 'THIS'?  Doctor visits.  Chemo.  Remission.  Doctor visits.  Chemo.  Remission.  For how long?  How long do I want to keep treatments going?  Every time the mets pop up again?  Actually, right now, I do have an answer to that question - for as long as I don't have the pain!  And if chemo with mets stops the pain, I suppose that it will be the cycle til it just don't work anymore or I am cured.  LOL

Anyway - I do have a door open if I feel the need to talk to a counselor.  But, it is going to be interesting to see - if this is a side effect of the chemo, along about next Monday I will be on the phone to the oncology clinic giving them the symptoms I am feeling.  If it's not the chemo, then we will work from there - maybe up my antidepressant or antianxiety.

Yellow sap or fungus

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Another very pretty, but somewhat chilly day has passed.  I had laid down yesterday afternoon late to do a little reading.  When I reached up to turn the light on after a couple of hours, nothing happened.  So I get up and we have no electricity.  The first thing that popped into my mind was that I hadn't paid the bill.  Seems someone had hit a power pole somewhere and knocked the electric out for a couple of hours.  That was a relief to find out!  LOL

I have a very stubborn painful leg.  May have to see what the onc will offer in the way of stronger pain meds!  After 3 days of cytoxan and having had the infusions Tuesday, I am experiencing quite a bit of stomach discomfort as well, now that the steroids have worn off.  LOL  Looking forward to that 2-week break and see if all this starts going away before the next infusion.

Gotta wonder

I'm still not sure.  LOL

It was another pretty day yesterday.  Got my infusions and start my cytoxan this morning.  So far, knock on wood, the chemo has given me no side effects.  A little information about the chemo combo CMF:

CMF is an acronym for the three-drug "cocktail" I'll be getting. This particular combination is unusual in that it's been found effective for women with both node-negative, and node-positive breast cancer.

First off, here're the names of the drugs that make up the acronym: cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan); methotrexate (Amethopterin, Mexate, Folex); and fluorouracil (5FU).   How do these three drugs work together to kill cancer? Basically, each attacks your cancer cells in a slightly different way. "C" attaches itself to the cancer cell's DNA, which then gets tangled up and is unable to replicate itself (sneaky!). "M" prevents cells from using folic acid, a vitamin that's critical for their growth and development; without it, they die. And "F" is made up of molecules that look very much like the molecules in normal cells, but they're structured slightly differently; this very small difference is enough to keep cells from functioning properly, once "F" makes its way into them. And when cells can't function, they die.

So, since I live in a perfect world, this is the way things will work.  LOL