[10:50am]
I've forgotten to mention some of the more important side-effects since I've been admitted here... As always, for the sake of accuracy, I will go into further detail.
Firstly, I haven't really been able to eat anything. Surprisingly, this distresses doctors far less than one would think. Sure, I can eat a few bites of Jello here and there, milks, or a few applesauces, but nothing really substantial. The doctor's have mentioned TPN (which is basically IV nutrients), but they seem to think that it is not necessary as long as I eat something.
Perhaps as a corollary to the first, I have been sans-poop for the past 3 days. This, on the other hand, has the doctors quite concerned. They are giving me lots of pills for this: senna, colace, laxatives, etc... Nada.
The nurse told me that it was especially important to have a bowel movement today. So, I was trying to force myself to eat some actual food this morning... thinking high intake equals high output... or some such nonsense. After eating the obligatory Jello and applesauce, I began a daring move to the eggs and bacon. It was a valiant effort, but I just couldn't swallow it. Next, I thought to myself how I was strangely able to eat a bag of Cheetos last night. So, I went for the Cheetos.
Cheetos and Jello don't mix. I quickly hollered for the Ativan, but I was too late... I vomited what little food I had. *sigh*
The nurse recommended I try some ensure, so I'll try that next.
The other side effect has been fevers! I've been having daily and nightly fevers since I have arrived here. Sometime I just coast at 100.4, and sometimes I spike higher. Even if the fevers are not worthy for intervention, they are quite annoying! They give me such a headache, and I can't take any Tylenol because they want me to get a high enough fever for a blood culture... or something (They give you Tylenol if it goes high enough, of course).
The fevers also give me this pain behind the eyes, and make it quite hard to focus on anything.
Anyhow, it's all a bunch of mini-battles. Now onto the larger one: The VP-16! (Update Later)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hey Austin
I am sorry that you are having a hard time eating. The Ensure sounds like a good idea. Would broth be another alternative? Nausea sucks!
One day at a time. Make that one battle at a time. Before you know it, you will have yet another battle behind you.
Ick, that sounds miserable. Hang in there, and I hope everything gets better!
VP-16 is another name for Etoposide. Austin had this before when he had his 3 rounds of ICE - it is the "E" in ICE. VP16 is one of those drugs which "messes up" the reproduction of cells, especially those in certain stages of development. I say "messes up" because no one has a clear understanding of how this particular drug works, except that it is classified as a "topoisomerase poison" which means it ruins one of the steps of DNA strand replication. It just does, they aren't sure how. It is used for a variety of cancers. Lately, it is being investigated for use with AIDS-related Non-Hodgkin's. VP16 lingers in the body for 2-3 days. Austin's administration of VP16 is probably timed so that day 0 is the first day that his stem cells can be reintroduced, without them being affected by the VP16 themselves. The other two drugs are probably being timed the same way. Long halflife BCNU is first, medium halflife VP16 is next, short halflife Cytoxan is last. Everything is being timed with day 0 as its target.
Post a Comment