Not just any article, but one written by the very talented Pamela Grossman for Weight Watchers on-line. If you click, you may see a familiar occassional blogger quoted. :)
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=78701
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Zometa Round 3
I think the further I move away from Cancerville, the more I forget I even have this blog.
I had my third round of Zometa recently. I have previous entries comparing a Zometa infusion to being run over by a truck. Flu-like symptoms just sounds so benign compared to the actual experience of said symptoms! So, it was not without trepidation that I approached this round.
The day did not start well. We have an industrial sized bottle of acetominophen in our house. For whatever reason, it could not be found. No where. Not in any medicine cabinet. Not in any place where medications end up when they don't get put away. This was bad news because I had been advised specifically to pre-medicate with acetominophen and then take it round the clock.
Then, we arrive at the oncologist's office, only to realize I had left my Zometa at home in the kitchen. My attempt at being early for my appointment (in hopes of being finished early) was a failure. After driving home and back yet again, I ended up appearing 15 minutes late for my appointment.
The morning continued a downward trend. I had people insisting on drawing my blood, something that had been done less than 2 weeks prior so that it wouldn't have to be done this day. I know I annoyed everyone by refusing the bloodwork. That is, everyone but my oncologist who agreed with me. :D
Finally, we make our way to the infusion room. I'm given a warm pack for my arm, the one with the lesser amount of missing in action lymph nodes. I ask for Tylenol, knowing they keep that sort of thing around. The infusion goes well, as always. I never have any symptoms during the infusion. The problem arises 12 hrs later when I am hit by shaking chills so severe that I can't sleep. Anyway, once it's all over, I ask again for Tylenol. The nurse practitioner says she'll give it to me if I tell her why. I explain and she says "You should have told me before. The secret is Benadryl. We would have given you IV Benadryl first." So instead, she gets me the Tylenol and a few tablets of Benadryl along with instructions to take both around the clock.
Lo and behold, t'was the most amazing thing! No shakes. No chills. No myalgias (muscle pain). I admit I did have some minimal bone pain, but nothing one would need a narcotic for. Just mild, run of the mill pain. It was the easiest round of Zometa ever! At least for me. :) And that's a good thing.
I mention all this because on all the message boards and all the blogs that I read prior to starting to Zometa, I had never seen this little hint for people with similar symptoms. I knew about acetominophen, but that was it... and that certainly did not do the trick by itself.
Lots more fun stuff coming up... really fun stuff, not medical stuff! I have tickets to see the Martha Stewart show for the breast cancer episode, I am having photos done of ME (more on that eventually), and I have a tiny bit part in the Nutcracker this year (I know, no tiny parts, just tiny dancers). More eventually...
I had my third round of Zometa recently. I have previous entries comparing a Zometa infusion to being run over by a truck. Flu-like symptoms just sounds so benign compared to the actual experience of said symptoms! So, it was not without trepidation that I approached this round.
The day did not start well. We have an industrial sized bottle of acetominophen in our house. For whatever reason, it could not be found. No where. Not in any medicine cabinet. Not in any place where medications end up when they don't get put away. This was bad news because I had been advised specifically to pre-medicate with acetominophen and then take it round the clock.
Then, we arrive at the oncologist's office, only to realize I had left my Zometa at home in the kitchen. My attempt at being early for my appointment (in hopes of being finished early) was a failure. After driving home and back yet again, I ended up appearing 15 minutes late for my appointment.
The morning continued a downward trend. I had people insisting on drawing my blood, something that had been done less than 2 weeks prior so that it wouldn't have to be done this day. I know I annoyed everyone by refusing the bloodwork. That is, everyone but my oncologist who agreed with me. :D
Finally, we make our way to the infusion room. I'm given a warm pack for my arm, the one with the lesser amount of missing in action lymph nodes. I ask for Tylenol, knowing they keep that sort of thing around. The infusion goes well, as always. I never have any symptoms during the infusion. The problem arises 12 hrs later when I am hit by shaking chills so severe that I can't sleep. Anyway, once it's all over, I ask again for Tylenol. The nurse practitioner says she'll give it to me if I tell her why. I explain and she says "You should have told me before. The secret is Benadryl. We would have given you IV Benadryl first." So instead, she gets me the Tylenol and a few tablets of Benadryl along with instructions to take both around the clock.
Lo and behold, t'was the most amazing thing! No shakes. No chills. No myalgias (muscle pain). I admit I did have some minimal bone pain, but nothing one would need a narcotic for. Just mild, run of the mill pain. It was the easiest round of Zometa ever! At least for me. :) And that's a good thing.
I mention all this because on all the message boards and all the blogs that I read prior to starting to Zometa, I had never seen this little hint for people with similar symptoms. I knew about acetominophen, but that was it... and that certainly did not do the trick by itself.
Lots more fun stuff coming up... really fun stuff, not medical stuff! I have tickets to see the Martha Stewart show for the breast cancer episode, I am having photos done of ME (more on that eventually), and I have a tiny bit part in the Nutcracker this year (I know, no tiny parts, just tiny dancers). More eventually...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
