Worst April Fools' prank ever
Happy April Fools'! It's a bit of a drab year for pranks and jokes given the pandemic (though my heart still skipped a beat when I fell for this article). On top of that, it was my first day of chemotherapy! Turns out the hospital wasn't pulling a prank on me - the seat and chemotherapy drugs with my name on it were all ready.
With my classic Hodgkin's diagnosis, I'm receiving the front-line Hodgkin's treatment: ABVD. ABVD is a four-drug chemotherapy regimen that is extremely effective in wiping out the cancer. The goal is to inhibit cell growth and division. For my normal cells that's not so nice, leading to hair loss and a weakened immune system among other things. But for my cancer cells, it should spell a death warrant. On the bright side, this chemo regimen has been around since the 1960s and has made huge improvements since then. Specifically reducing toxicity and increasing comfort with lots of anti-nausea medications.
A cycle of ABVD is one month long with the actual chemo administration on days 1 and 15. We're beginning with two cycles followed by another PET scan. If the cancer responds as expected, then I'll do one more cycle of chemotherapy and/or a couple weeks of radiation. If it doesn't, then we'll upscale my treatment to a more intense chemotherapy (hence the fertility treatment).
Which brings us back to today: I've completed ABVD cycle 1A! Woohoo! Het viel mee. Or in other words, it wasn't too bad. I had already been briefed extensively on what to expect (next to enough research for a thesis on it in my free time). The room where the chemo's administered is comfortable, airy and modern, on the top floor of the hospital right in the middle of the city. Unfortunately though, it's not a very large room and it has seven chairs for patients in close proximity. Therefore Dane can't join me for the actual treatment since we're not able to keep 6 ft / 1.5 m distance between us and other patients. C'est la vie.
We got off to a rocky start searching for appropriate veins to insert the IV. Third time was a charm but as soon as the first chemo drug was being infused, the nurses scheduled me for a PICC line insertion ahead of my next treatment. More on that at a later date. Besides that, the treatment was just fine.
The first three chemicals (ABV, not per se in that order) were all 10-15 minutes so I hardly even had time to look at my phone. Mostly settled in and chewed ice cubes in the hopes it may help prevent mouth sores - another consequence of stifled cell growth. The last drug, the 'D', is the hardest. More accurately, it's the only difficult one. It can cause a deep burning and heaviness in your arm and that is indeed what I felt. Luckily the pain is short-lived since all they need to do is slow down the infusion. That keeps it tolerable. It only added an hour and a half to my big first day of chemo.
To top it all off, I even biked back home from the hospital - on the nurse's recommendation. It's my best transportation option at the moment. Aside from the important exercise offered by a 30 minute bike ride, it's also the safest way to keep myself at a safe distance from others to avoid the coronavirus. This went surprisingly smoothly and even enjoyably, biking past the Rijksmuseum through the Vondelpark and Rembrandtpark. The only remarkable thing was a fever that kept me sweating even though the weather was cold. That fever's a normal side effect on chemo day though and should be gone by tomorrow.
All-in-all, a smooth first day of chemotherapy, even though there wasn't much April Fools' Day fun to be had. In other news, I'm proud to say that the blog is now in real time. Let's see how this develops over the coming days.
With my classic Hodgkin's diagnosis, I'm receiving the front-line Hodgkin's treatment: ABVD. ABVD is a four-drug chemotherapy regimen that is extremely effective in wiping out the cancer. The goal is to inhibit cell growth and division. For my normal cells that's not so nice, leading to hair loss and a weakened immune system among other things. But for my cancer cells, it should spell a death warrant. On the bright side, this chemo regimen has been around since the 1960s and has made huge improvements since then. Specifically reducing toxicity and increasing comfort with lots of anti-nausea medications.
A cycle of ABVD is one month long with the actual chemo administration on days 1 and 15. We're beginning with two cycles followed by another PET scan. If the cancer responds as expected, then I'll do one more cycle of chemotherapy and/or a couple weeks of radiation. If it doesn't, then we'll upscale my treatment to a more intense chemotherapy (hence the fertility treatment).
 |
| Penthouse view over the roofs of Amsterdam from the treatment room. |
We got off to a rocky start searching for appropriate veins to insert the IV. Third time was a charm but as soon as the first chemo drug was being infused, the nurses scheduled me for a PICC line insertion ahead of my next treatment. More on that at a later date. Besides that, the treatment was just fine.
The first three chemicals (ABV, not per se in that order) were all 10-15 minutes so I hardly even had time to look at my phone. Mostly settled in and chewed ice cubes in the hopes it may help prevent mouth sores - another consequence of stifled cell growth. The last drug, the 'D', is the hardest. More accurately, it's the only difficult one. It can cause a deep burning and heaviness in your arm and that is indeed what I felt. Luckily the pain is short-lived since all they need to do is slow down the infusion. That keeps it tolerable. It only added an hour and a half to my big first day of chemo.
To top it all off, I even biked back home from the hospital - on the nurse's recommendation. It's my best transportation option at the moment. Aside from the important exercise offered by a 30 minute bike ride, it's also the safest way to keep myself at a safe distance from others to avoid the coronavirus. This went surprisingly smoothly and even enjoyably, biking past the Rijksmuseum through the Vondelpark and Rembrandtpark. The only remarkable thing was a fever that kept me sweating even though the weather was cold. That fever's a normal side effect on chemo day though and should be gone by tomorrow.
All-in-all, a smooth first day of chemotherapy, even though there wasn't much April Fools' Day fun to be had. In other news, I'm proud to say that the blog is now in real time. Let's see how this develops over the coming days.
Comments
Post a Comment