22. Chemotherapy, Session 3 of 4
July 11, 2022
Update. Chemotherapy session 3 of 4 is done!
The pre-chemo blood work looked OK overall. Hemoglobin is now back to normal, albeit low normal. But I’ll take it… anemia resolved. Will need to watch the creatinine though, it’s a marker of kidney function. It has been trending up, and I am guessing this is due to the chemotherapy drug Cyclophosphamide. Hydrating can help.
Drizzly on the way to the hospital today. Doreen admires the plants for sale along Katipunan Avenue.
Thankful for the portacath. The medical technologist (blood draw lady) who did the pre-chemo blood work had to fish for a vein… it would have been more difficult to find a vein for intravenous chemotherapy like today.
Also thankful for finally having some coverage through PhilHealth (universal healthcare) since I already paid in enough in premiums to use its benefits. It took off a chunk of my hospital bill, in addition to the person with disability (PWD) discount.
All in all today’s session went well. What didn’t go well was sleep the night before – I take the steroid dexamethasone the day before chemotherapy to reduce the likelihood of side effects during chemotherapy. Unfortunately this short course of steroids (last day tomorrow, which is post-chemo day 1, total of 3 days) causes insomnia. The last two chemo sessions were manageable, but the insomnia hit me hard last night and I did not get any sleep. So frustrating. I prayed a lot overnight and chatted with people on the other side of the world (ie friends and relatives in the USA). One of my friends suggested that Doreen should have sung me a lullaby. Why didn’t I think of that! Anyway, I dozed off a little during chemotherapy today, partly because I also got intravenous diphenhydramine (benadryl) as a pre-medication.
