took a nice walk in the early morning down by the Montlake cut, which
connects Lake Union to Lake Washington. Watched the bridge go up as a tall
sailboat passed through the cut and watched many rowers. Once back at my
room I road my bike on the trainer for about 15 minutes. About 11am it was
time to begin my first chemotherapy treatment. The radiation the previous
week was tough, but didn't hold a candle to what I was about to get. I got a
drug called VP 16. It is very powerful, and as I have mentioned before, my
dose was going to be 100 times stronger than what is given in standard
outpatient chemotherapy treatments. I guess that's why they call it high
dose chemotherapy. When working around the chemotherapy drugs the nurses
wear thick rubber gloves. If you were to get a lot of chemotherapy chemicals
on your hands it absorbs into your blood and can cause cancer. Scary,
considering it is going into my body. Excuse me...I just left to
vomit. (really) You guessed it. The VP 16 made me very sick. It is mixed
with alcohol and the nurse said it is equivalent to a good six to eight hours
of heavy drinking. Not easy considering I don't drink. They started giving
it to me
yesterday at 12 pm and finished at 4 pm. How I felt steadily declined
as the afternoon went on. The two main problems were a screaming headache,
which only morphine could suppress and vomiting. I vomited pretty
extensively early yesterday evening and just about three minutes ago. The
headaches have improved but the nausea is still with me. Probably won't feel
like eating much today. That always bums me out. Besides the chemo I have
been given a bunch of other drugs such as: bactrim (antibiotic),
allopurinoll (decreases uric acid production, protecting kidneys), fluconazol
(antifungal-preventative), acyclover (antiviral-preventative),
methyprednisolane (steroid to help prevent allergic reactions to VP16),
pilocarpine (help increase salivary secretions due to radiation). Today is a
day of rest for me. I will see my family and some other friends. I am
looking forward to today. Yesterday when I was feeling pretty lousy my
brother in law, Kenny Gosteli, rubbed my feet. Outwardly Ken can appear to
be a pretty gruff man, but inside he is very tender and the compassion he
showed to me as he rubbed my feet made my feet feel good as well as my heart.
Michelle went home last night to be with my boys and to go to church with
them. They will return later today. My good friend Brad stayed the night
with me in the fold out bed. We talked a little, but were pretty quiet since
I wasn't much for conversation. Brad helped get me ice when my mouth was dry
and handed me paper towels to wipe my mouth after throwing up. It's true
that a good friend is there for you in adversity. I sure appreciate my
friends.