It always seems strange to see someone post that they won't be blogging for a couple of days - it's like saying that your readers need your regular spewage so much that they'll have troubles without their regular fix. I have no such illusions.
Nevertheless, some weeks just need to be mentioned. The last cycle of the Unknown Son's chemo went fairly well – by the end of the week, they’d figured out the right mix of drugs to knock down the nausea, and he was doing pretty well. He had minimal nausea or other issues in the day or two later.
This time, it’s a different story. First off, the cocktail he’s on this time had to be infused over a 7-8 hour time frame (instead of the 4 hour infusion time last cycle), so it involved us getting there by 9 and not leaving until about 5 o'clock. Add in the 1 hour commute each way, and it made for a very long day. In addition, this time around, the chemo cycle only ran over three 3 days of infusion, so we did it on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Come Thursday, we were thinking "This is a snap. No problem."
Advice to self - don't say or think that. Just don't - it tempts fate.
Then the fun started.
Friday morning, we had to go bring the Unknown Son back to the clinic for repeated nausea and vomiting. He got IV fluids and some anti-nausea meds, and we were out by 2:00. Then we had to go to the local Emergency Room (it's 10 minutes away versus an hour, so it made sense) Saturday night at 9 for a repeat performance. Sunday was fairly uneventful, with a little bit of nausea in the early afternoon. He had one or two more episodes later that afternoon, but his new medication Marinol , which is a synthetic form of the active ingredient of marijuana) seemed to work. After taking it, he slept for a while, and woke up quite hungry (in other words, he got stoned and ended up with the munchies). A warm bath, and another dose before bed, and he was out like a light.
At 4:00 this morning, we were back to the vomiting. So, it’s off to the clinic once more (the Unknown Wife is there now). With luck, they can get a handle on this – he’s lost about 4 pounds this week, and unlike his dad, he can’t spare the weight. He'll spend the night there, and Unknown Mom will stay with him (unfortunately, I have a commitment I can't get out of tonight). If he requires a second night, I'll relieve her after my night class tomorrow night.
Luckily, the Unknown Mother-in-Law (who is a saint, by the way) can come over to stay and help out with the Unknown Daughter.
So, blogging might be light for the next couple of days.
