Chemo......I'm gonna smile :)

I wanted to touch on chemotherapy. The dreaded chemotherapy. After confirmed relapse I began my 2 cycles of ICE chemotherapy. Three drugs: Ifosfamide, Etoposide, and Carboplatin. Three little devils. First I had to have a port placed again. Luckily, the radiologist agreed to put it in the same spot as my previous one so that we could minimize scaring. After it was in the chemo began! The Etoposide was given over an hour for 3 days. The Ifosfamide was given after the first dose of Etoposide over 24 hours. After it was finished a drug called Mesna was given over 12 hours to prevent bladder bleeding, a side effect of Etoposide. Also, on the second day a single dose of Carboplatin was given over 2 hours. Have I lost ya yet?? I was in the hospital for a total of 3 1/2 days the first cycle and 2 1/2 day the second cycle. The cycles were 3 weeks apart. All of the doctors and nurses at UAB were amazing!

While in the hospital, I was given an infusion of Decadron and Zofran each day to combat nausea. Thankfully they did their job and I had no trouble while in the hospital. I just rested a lot and would take walks with Mark. Coming home was a different story. The first days home I felt very tired and just blah. I took my oral Zofran 8mg every 8 hours and it helped with the nausea. I had no appetite at all and had to force myself to eat something. Totally not me. The second day home was always the worst. Went from feeling blah to feeling like I had the worst hangover known to man. Not sure if it was from the chemo or from the Neulasta shot I had to give myself on the first day home. The Neulasta shot is a white blood cell stimulator. By the third day I had more energy and felt better.

I had to be on "neutropenic" precautions 8 days after the chemo was started for 5 days. This meant no fresh fruits or veggies (everything had to be cooked), had to avoid crowds, no flowers, no sharing food or drinks with Allie. Its just a precautionary thing because this is the time my blood cell counts would be the lowest, increasing my risk for infection.

That's pretty much ICE chemo in a nutshell! It sucks but is well worth it to be healthy again. That is all :)

*The photo above was taken my first hospital stay on 06-01-11