Chemo

When I think of chemo I have always thought of boiling, steaming concoctions from a witches brew, then once they were hung in an IV bag they would be neon green or yellow.  The first time I saw Dustin's spidey juices, it surprised me at how "normal" they looked.  We have been programed that chemo is so toxic that you wouldn't want to even touch it, I couldn't believe how innocent it appeared.  Logan says he is getting "Pinsol" in his veins, heck even pinsol is an ugly green/brown color. I think they should should be ugly in color to match what they do to the person....just my opinion.

 I took some pictures of his last treatment so everyone could see what his meds looked like.  The whole process takes about 4 hours.  That is from the time we check in to when we leave.  They can not order the chemo from the pharmacy until they actually see that Dust is there, so some times the longest part is waiting for the meds to arrive. Dustin's "cocktail" of medication was the normal treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  He was on ABVD.  He had a reaction to the "B" part of the cocktail so he is no longer on that one.  Some people can have a reaction to the "Bleo", so it was something we were watching out for.  He said it felt like someone was sitting on his chest when he was getting the "Bleo", so Dr M said, "no more for you!" 

The first picture is of the "A" part of the cocktail or Adriamycin.  It looks like red Kool-Aid.  This is the one that turns everything red for a little while.


Adrimycin

"A" is given by "push", the nurse actually sits there and pushes it into the port.  She doesn't push it fast, so it takes about 10 minutes.

I forgot to mention one of his favorite parts........saline flushes!!!  They have to flush his port before and after each medication, and they do this with saline.  What almost all treatment centers use are prepackaged saline flushes.  These prepackaged flushes have some sort of preservative in them that make them have a metallic like taste during the flush, that is one of the worst parts of the actual chemo treatment.  Dustin was warned about this, so on the first treatment he took jolly ranchers to eat because it worked for someone else....bad idea, I don't think he will ever eat another grape jolly rancher again.  The best thing for him is peppermint candy. 



Two must haves during chemo...water and peppermint candy!!!

The next chemo med after Adriamycin is "V" or Vinblastine, this one is also given as a push.  It also takes about 10 minutes.

Vinblastine

Doesn't that look so innocent.  I think it should at least be neon orange or yellow........ but it's clear...WTH.  Clear doesn't say......."Hey, in 1-2 days I'm gonna make you feel like total dog crap!!"  At least with animals if they are poisonous they usually have some sort of ideifying mark or bright color.....just saying!

The last medication is Dacarvazine, it is given by IV and takes at least an hour to run.

Dacarbazine (and Dustin's beautiful shiny head)

Dacarbazine.....another innocent looking spidey juice.  Believe me they are not so innocent.  By the time the Dacarbazine is hung, his color is gone and the dark circles have returned under his eyes.  He is not the happy, laughing, full of piss and vinegar person he was when we made the 3 hour drive that morning.  So now I take him to the hotel and hopefully can get him to eat before he falls asleep (it is worse if he doesn't eat). 

We will do this until June.  But if that is what it takes to make him whole again....I say....BRING IT ON!!!

:-) Delana

CT Results

Today was the day Dustin and I have been secretly dreading for a few weeks. He received the results of his CT today, this CT was to tell us if the chemo was doing what it was supposed to do. If the CT showed new growth, Dust would have to start a new chemo plan (a stronger and uglier chemo). To be honest I did not sleep at all last night, he finally started snoring around 12:30. The alarm came very early this morning at 4:30. We got to Dr M's office at 8:45 we were both trying not to let the other one know just how nervous we were a out getting the results... I had been telling him for weeks that the results were going to be fine... He said he just wasn't sure. When Dr M came in to see us, I tried to read him as soon as he walked in... He said his usuall hellos and immediately asked Dust how he was feeling and how he was doing. I just knew right then it was bad news. I preparing myself... Telling myself not to cry in the Dr's office! But the he proceeds to tell us that his upper chest lymph nodes have not changed (not bigger but not smaller), his middle chest nodes have showed slight improvement and his abdomen and pelvic lymph nodes also show slight improvement. To be honest I didn't know what to think of this when he read it to us, but he said he was happy with dustins progress. If he is happy we are happy! I know Dustin was disappointed that all of his lymph nodes were not back to normal size, but we have a lot of friends and family praying for him and I know one day soon he will have a normal scan!!

He is resting now, chemo really wipes him out. I ordered his dinner, but he fell asleep before it got here :-(
I'm typing on my phone so be kind with the spelling errors.

:-) Delana

I am really falling down on the job....I really haven't posted in almost a month.  Dustin is doing pretty good, he is getting really tired and his back and hip is hurting more.  He tries to go on "field trips" with me but some times it really wears him out.  Last Wednesday he had a CT to check and see if his current chemo plan is working, we are to get the results this Wednesday.  I would be lying if I said we weren't anxious about those results.  If it shows no new growth and his lymph nodes have shrunk he will stay on his current plan...if it shows new growth he will go on stronger chemo and possibly a stem cell transplant.  We are not ready for that!!!

We received a bill the other day from St Johns Medical Center that took our breath away.  We have been receiving bills for his chemo for $3,700.  The new bill is from pharmacy services for $26,000!  This is for one treatment!!! He is going to have 12-18 treatments.  The $3,700 is just for nursing services!  This is just insane!!

It is pretty boring here, but that is how I like it, that means Dustin is well and feeling pretty good.  I will update the blog Wednesday night, from the hotel with the CT results.  Wish us luck and pray for good results.

:-) Delana