Devil's Night

Devil's Night is what they call Halloween Eve in Detroit. The devilry used to get pretty bad up there, to the point that people died from random violence or fires. It never was that bad when we were there, mostly just mischief.

We had a fun gathering at work today, a brunch potluck that my program area hosted. Technically it wasn't a Halloween party, but several of my coworkers came in costume. Suzanne was a rapper/playa, Rafia was Dr. Horrible (with a lab coat that said "She blinded me with library science" on the back, ha!), and Eric was BJ Honeycutt from M*A*S*H* (bloody apron and martini included).

I had my usual lab work done today. And drumroll, please! Here are the numbers:

WBC: 4.2

NE#: 2.9

RBC: 3.73
HGB: 12.2

Everything's fairly low but still acceptable. I again spoke with Sue. OK, let me back up.

My last blog post ended on a fairly positive note; I wrote it on the Sunday after my last chemo treatment, and I wasn't feeling bad. Not great by any means, but not bad. I got up on Monday and had no more Emend, so took my Zofran. Felt worse and worse as the day wore on. I had to go in for a Neulasta injection and told Sue how bad I was feeling. She said to use the HAB cream even if I wasn't vomiting since the nausea was becoming really, really bad. I tried it when I got home and felt a bit better, but it didn't last. The nausea just came screaming back that night; it was with me most of Tuesday, too. I had to teach a class that evening and just felt like I was babbling. Came home and could not eat more than a bit of salad. I woke Wednesday and took my meds as I should have all day (I missed my second dose on Tuesday) and felt a bit better. Finally, by Thursday (yesterday), I was able to go the day without any nausea meds and without feeling nauseated. Whew.

I can't really describe the nausea, except to say that it feels unrelenting; it was almost intolerable by Monday evening. My teeth and jaw hurt from clenching so much, which I guess is a normal reaction for me. I tried some deep breathing exercises but they didn't help. And everything, EVERYTHING smelled awful, which I'm sure didn't help.

So that was my week, and I talked to Sue about it today. I asked her whether it was the Emend that really didn't work the way it should (even though it controlled the vomiting) or whether it was just bad because it was my second round, and the chemo drugs are building up. She said that she thought that the Emend just didn't do the trick. So we are trying yet another protocol. For my next treatment, I will go in on a Tuesday to see Dr. Krekow and get my labwork done (because that was the only day she could squeeze me in with the doc), and then I will go back on Thursday for my chemo treatment, which will be exactly as it has been except no Emend. Then the next day, which would have been my chemo day, I will go in for the Neulasta injection and they will put me on IV antinausea meds again -- the same stuff I normally get right before my chemo. So I will have IV antinausea meds both Thursday and Friday this time. We shall see how it works out . . . .

OK, so that's about all the news I have for now. I hope you have a fun, wacky, cool Halloween! Peace, Jody