Chemo Starts Tomorrow (Mon 9/18)

Chemo starts tomorrow. I have to be there at 8:30 and, according to the schedule, will see my oncologist, Dr I., at 9:45, followed by the treatment at 11:15. Not sure why the long wait but I'll post here as soon as soon as I am able. At my 9:45 meeting I should be going over the results of my pet/cat scans - I feel fine about starting the chemo but will feel a lot better after getting the results.

Speaking of the pet/cat scans, that was quite an experience. I arrived at 4:30, a bit early, and filled out the obligatory paperwork. The nurse then took me to a prep room and asked me to remove my shoes so she could get my weight and height. I told her I prefered doing my height w/my shoes on as I liked that result better but she told me that she had to take my height w/my shoes off to get a consistent reading - she had no sense of humor whatsover (but was nice all the same). Next, I got to sit in the prep room for a while where a different nurse came in to inject the solution for the pet scan into me. It's a radioactive dye and I aksed her how long I would glow in the dark and she said I shouldn't glow at all but, if I did, give them a call - she had a good sense of humor. I thought that was it been then she came back w/a liter of the vile stuff I had to drink for the cat scan. Basically a solution of water, iodine, and raspberry crystal lite - I like water, can stand iodine, but that crystal lite garbage don't not go down so easily; blech. I then had to wait for an hour for the chemicals to get to the various parts of my body before starting the scans. The scans themselves were simple - the pet scan took about a half an hour during which time I fell asleep and the cat scan only took about 10 minutes. Afterwards they gave me a card stating that I was going to be radioactive until 9/16, in case I got stopped by the police in the subway, train station, or airport; Its a great card and is going in my scrapbook. They also recommended drinking a lot of water over the next couple of days to flush the chemicals out of my system.

According to what I'd been told (and read), the pet/cat scans are not supposed to have any real side effects but, when I was done, I felt really fatigued. Could have been that I didn't get much sleep the night before but it was all I could do to eat, post a quick message here, and crawl into bed. That night I had a bunch of nightmares; after each I would wake up and have to go to the bathroom. The next day, I was still pretty exhausted and didn't get much done at work but started feeling a lot better towards the end of the day and a bunch of friends visited w/me on Friday night which made me feel even better. Saturday I just kinda lay around, watched movies, and slept. In the evening, I went out to Maplewood where I hooked up with some friends for a show followed by some dinner. It was then that I really felt myself again.

I can't say unequivocally that the pet scan was the cause of my fatigue but my first cat scan didn't give me any problems and I gotta figure that radioactive dye running through you brain has to have some effect. The card said the radioative dye would be completely broken down by Saturday and it was Saturday evening that I felt fine again. Of course, it could all just be in my mind.