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