Chemo Round 41
Monday, December 24, 2012 at 12:37AM Chemo Round 41 was one of the best rounds ever…and when you’ve had 41 rounds, that’s saying something. As I mentioned last time, Dr. Lenz and I are tinkering away at my chemo regimen in an attempt to make things as smooth and easy as possible.
This time around, we kept the steroids at their last-round levels (I’m taking 15 milligrams of Decadron), changed my anti-nausea medication (to Aloxi), and got fluids while I infused with my chemo drugs. On top of that, I hydrated much more than usual – chugging a couple of coconut waters on Monday along with my normal drinking diet of juices and herbal tea. I was convinced that if I fought the chemo side effects – all of which are dehydration-related for me -- before they came around, I could get through chemo easier than ever before.
My plan worked like a charm. The sick headache that usually comes on Monday and Tuesday nights didn’t come. No mucous-y saliva this time around, either. I spent many productive hours on the computer on Monday and Tuesday, ate like a champ, and slept soundly. And by Wednesday morning, when I’m usually dragging and interested in napping all day, I was up, showered, and putting on my makeup by the time my mom came over at noon. Pretty awesome, right? I was psyched.
My mom was over to take me back to Norris for more fluids. Like last time, I knew that if I got fluids on Wednesday, I could sail through Thursday. And again, my plan worked 
well. I cuddled in my bed at the Day Hospital, intravenously guzzled a big bag of fluids, and made it home in time to watch the Duke game. I was in the office on Thursday and haven’t looked back since.
The mad scientists (me and Lenz) have tweaked the formula just right. FOLFIRI + Avastin along with our clever changes are working like a charm (my CEA continues to be stable) while the side effects are becoming less noticeable. The ultimate goal -- which we are actively achieving -- is for chemo to be just a blip on my radar, because I can’t be sidelined for long in 2013…not with the big plans I have in store.
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