Round 1 (formerly Round 5)

Today I had the first treatment of Alimta, the new chemo drug. Infusion on this one is really fast -- about 10 minutes for the drug itself, but there are a few other things they run before and after, so the whole process was about 2 hours. So far I feel just a bit nauseous.

The Lungs, and O2.

And there's another concern. Something else to worry me and many of those close to me. Hooray! Because of my shortness of breath and coughing situation, and my resting/active/recovering pulse/ox sats and heart rate, I need to be followed closely to make sure that I don't have a blood clot in my lungs, otherwise known as a pulmonary embolism. This should be a particularly scary term to my extended family, as my aunt (my mother's sister) recently died very unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism following a bad coughing situation that just wouldn't go away and a feeling of starving for air, which I feel occasionally these days now. This means I get more scans tomorrow. This one will be a CT (*totally different from the PET/CT that I had last week...) as well as an ultrasound of my legs, where these things can start. This will (hopefully) rule out the existence of clots. I should have the results of this tomorrow or the next day at the outside, and will report.

It also means that I qualify for my own home oxygen tank(s), which will be delivered shortly. No, you will not see me shopping at Rainbow carting around an O2 tank. It will stay at home, as I am way too self conscious to venture out when using it. And its not an all-day thing, anyhow. Each tank only lasts about 4.5 hours. If I smoked, I'd be one of those people taking hits from the tank and then having a cigarette, until there was eventually a loud explosion. Luckily, I don't smoke.

Rounds, rounds.

Because I'm on a new drug, the numbering system for rounds has officially changed: the clock is now reset to round 1. They'll scan me again at mayo after 2 or 3 rounds, so in about 6 to 9 weeks. Lets hope that Alimta sucks less than Docetaxel for me... AND is easier to tolerate.

Otherwise, pretty standard post-chemo here: feeling tired and a little bit nauseated. Jen is making me some great delicious-sounding dinner concoction, partially based on Easter Ham leftovers. And special cancer-fighting dessert cookies. Yum! :)