Chemo Part 3 (Day 3 & 4)

Saturday, June 1, 2024 & Sunday, June 2, 2024 – Day 4– Day 3

Good news is that this weekend is the last part of chemotherapy. Bad news is that the next few weeks will suck while I wait for engraftment (aka for my body to accept Gordon’s marrow).

Today I start cyclophosphamide for two days. I knew it was going to be uncomfortable and inconvenient this weekend. One of the side effects you worry about with this drug is hemorrhagic cystitis (inflammation of the bladder that causes bleeding), but to help prevent that, they give you fluids and some other drugs (Mesna) which means you need to pee every 2 hours so I knew I was going to have little rest since I’d be up all the time, but I was not expecting to feel like I’d be hit by a bus.

I don’t really remember anything from this weekend because I slept through the majority of it. I had a big headache; I was dizzy; and I felt in and out of consciousness. My tongue swelled up, my cheeks on the inside swelled up, my face was super swollen. The ulcers in my mouth got worse during the course of the day. I would never wish this experience on anyone, not even my worst enemy.

One positive though is that I had the best nurses, Nina and Freda. They kept reassuring me that what I was experiencing was normal and that there are medications to help through the pain in my mouth so I took all the meds to help me get through the weekend.

Freda and I were chatting about life and I told her one of the hardest things is being confined here and not being able to do anything because I’m normally a busy body doing all the things. She reminded me that I am running, that I am being a busy body right now, that I am working out, just in a different way. It was a nice reminder that even though I’m feeling quite unproductive, I am building up a new immune system.