Loveland, Colorado
Jani and I checked in and waited just a few minutes for our appointment with oncology nurse, Karen. Jani anticipated the appointment would last 20 minutes and I thought it might last an hour.
I'm so lucky to have Jani going through all of this with me!
We went in to an exam room where they had a DVD player set up along with a printed PowerPoint Slide handout on "What is Chemotherapy".
The DVD was produced by the doctors and staff at Front Range Cancer Specialists and not just a generic educational program. The program was well-thought out and nicely produced. The written handout did not have everything that was included in the DVD and I took notes as it played.
Jani had a more difficult time following along than I did because she was unfamiliar with alot of the medical terminology - her head was "swimming" and she is taking her caregiver role very seriously and wanted to get everything down.
Jani made a shopping list of all the things included in the video suggested to help with potential side effects things like mouth irritation, neuropathy, constipation and diarrhea.
After the video was over, nurse Karen came in and carefully went over the highlights of the video. She gave me a calendar schedule of my 1st cycle of chemotherapy to begin on Monday, June 13, 2011 at 1 PM. Each cycle will last 21 days.
If it looks like a lot of medicine - IT IS~~~~
Nurse Karen gave me a handout on each medication and then carefully went over each one.
Chemotherapy Agent #1: Velcade IV (intravenous)
Anti-nausea Agent: Aloxi (intravenous)
Reduction of Inflammation Agent: Decadron IV
Chemotherapy Agent #2: Revlimid PO (by mouth) won't start in Cycle 1 awaiting drug approval by insurance
Bone Strengthening Agent: Zometa IV (given once a month only)
Amino Acid to help with muscle aches and pains caused by chemotherapy Agent: L-Glutamine
Vitamins to help with potential neuropathy (pins and needle feeling in feet and hands) caused by chemotherapy Agents: B6 and B12
We did not leave our Chemotherapy Education until 5:15 PM, making the duration 2 hours 45 minutes in length. It went by quickly for me, however, both Jani and I were tired afterwards. Nurse Karen was caring and thorough.
I've never been good at taking medications, even over-the-counter medications and vitamins. I seem to get more side effects than benefits. So, this ought to be very interesting on June 13th when they load me up with all these drugs - thank goodness for Jani~
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