PATIENT NOTES : December marks a personal milestone for me, I have been fighting this cancer for nearly two years, and you would think that I would have become a defacto expert, on at least MY cancer. The sheer volume of information that is released is mind-boggling. Even for my curent drug which is so new that there are only a handful of other patients on thus protocol,,,, So, once again I find myself, like a sea-captain, on the prow of the 'H.M.S. Trial and Error', Flag flying in the breeze in one hand and a wonky compass in the other - never quite steering me wright direction.
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Well... I have been taking my new drug - Stivarga - for one complete cycle (21 days on the pills, now starting a week 'off' of 7 days.
What have I experienced? The first couple of weeks were much like time I spent on Vectibix - nothing unexpected - foot pain, exhaustion, lack of sleep, and mouth sores. Mental stress, confusion and psycological panic attacks have also been a surprise. But with the help of counseling, I seem to be managing O.K...
Now comes week 3..,.. Things get worse... I woke up last Friday and discovered that my feet had swollen and my legs and muscles were in serious pain. And, just my luck, due to the Holiday I couldn't get to the doctor to get magic scripts, so I just weathered the storm and waited until Tuesday - the end result!!!!! BING!!! An extended release Morphine Tablet for Pain and an pill for the expulsion of water from my system... The Doctor told me to be 'patient', it is soooo, seemingly easy for those words to slip from his mouth. I dutifully pick up the meds pop my pills and thanks to Mr. Morphine, I slipped into a deep medicated nap.
Skip forward to today and things seem to be 'normalizing', but I am still in a lot of pain. Another important aspect is my efforts to return to my art-work. I have transported some of my marker/ink supplies inside. It's not ideal, but I CAN get some things done, which makes me feel a little better.
That is it for now, I will keep you updated on my 'off-week' experience... Have a good week.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Well... I have been taking my new drug - Stivarga - for one complete cycle (21 days on the pills, now starting a week 'off' of 7 days.
What have I experienced? The first couple of weeks were much like time I spent on Vectibix - nothing unexpected - foot pain, exhaustion, lack of sleep, and mouth sores. Mental stress, confusion and psycological panic attacks have also been a surprise. But with the help of counseling, I seem to be managing O.K...
Now comes week 3..,.. Things get worse... I woke up last Friday and discovered that my feet had swollen and my legs and muscles were in serious pain. And, just my luck, due to the Holiday I couldn't get to the doctor to get magic scripts, so I just weathered the storm and waited until Tuesday - the end result!!!!! BING!!! An extended release Morphine Tablet for Pain and an pill for the expulsion of water from my system... The Doctor told me to be 'patient', it is soooo, seemingly easy for those words to slip from his mouth. I dutifully pick up the meds pop my pills and thanks to Mr. Morphine, I slipped into a deep medicated nap.
Skip forward to today and things seem to be 'normalizing', but I am still in a lot of pain. Another important aspect is my efforts to return to my art-work. I have transported some of my marker/ink supplies inside. It's not ideal, but I CAN get some things done, which makes me feel a little better.
That is it for now, I will keep you updated on my 'off-week' experience... Have a good week.
