Chemo #5

Tuesday chemo #5 a new drug Taxol, and I was a little apprehensive.  They pump you up with a lot of different drugs before starting the Taxol to help you tolerate it.  Sheila, my nurse, stayed with me after she started the pump and it was flowing for 5 minutes or so, when the allergic reaction started to happen.  The feeling was much the same as the reaction I had to Emend, but I didn't drift away this time, I was very alert as to what was going on.

The only difference was I had a hard time breathing and within seconds all the nurses came in and were giving me oxygen, and held my hands while Sheila gave more meds.  They called for Dr. Hong and I guess she needed him there to not only see my reaction but to give the ok to administer other drugs… I think Ativan.  Once again my heart rate and blood pressure were high and oxygen level low. Thanks to their quick response and knowing exactly what to do brought me back to the living.  One nurse said 'her color looks good now' and I asked what color I was…. thinking maybe I was like an oompa loompa blue!

It took quite a while, about 15 minutes, for me to feel the reaction fading away.  After that I got the body shakes, the same as I did after the other reaction. Dr. Hong said many react to the Taxol and they've found once that happens they can resume the Taxol again without any issues.  Gee, I really had to think about that for a while, but against Ed's wishes, I said we would try again.  I didn't want to not get this since I know how important it is.

They let me rest for a while and the nurses left to check on the other patients and that's when I heard this sound.  There is an emergency exit door outside the room and we were having very high winds that day and it would pull the door open just a little and it set off an alarm.  Not a loud alarm but a very low steady noise that made me ask if I was flat-lining…. well, that made everyone laugh and broke the tension.  There were three other patients in the room while this was happening,

When the nurses came back in to restart the Taxol, everyone was gone except for Ed and Kim.  All the other patients were done with their treatment and on their way home.  Sheila said, "boy you really know how to clear out a room."

Taxol restarted and went without a hitch…. I knew it would be okay because I felt my angels around me keeping me safe, as well as my family and friends thinking about me and holding me close.

After being there for seven hours, we were on our way home.

I know this was so hard on Ed and Kim watching and not being able to do a thing, but they were real troopers and hung in there with me.  Also hard on Tim not being there, but he still isn't totally over the nasty upper respiratory bug he had.

I'm moving forward and have three more Taxol's to go and I think after what happened this time, they will definitely give me higher doses of the pre meds.

Onward and Upward!

Love to all
Linda