I'm at the infusion center to begin a new chemo regimen. This is my fourth, and I'll be getting it until the CAR-T folks open up a slot for me.
I got here at 9:30 am after taking some Pepcid with breakfast along with 40 mg of dex. This compares to the 2 mg I'm currently taking. By midnight I should be wide, wide awake.
When I arrived they told me I first had to take some Tylenol and then wait an hour. But this is not my first rodeo and I had already taken some Tylenol. So let's get this show on the road!
Sure, but first they had to take my temperature. I measured 85.6 degrees. "That seems too low," said the nurse. "That sounds like I should be dead," I answered. So he got another thermometer, but it also registered 85.6. A third thermometer registered 95.6. Better but still bafflingly low. Finally, a fourth thermometer registered 96.7, which was deemed good enough.
Then we went through my usual blood pressure routine. First reading: too high! Second reading: too high! Third reading, standing up: looks great!
So now we're ready? Nope. Apparently my bilirubin level is high, which it always is. So we need my doctor's go-ahead, but no one can reach him. Finally someone does and he gives the green light.
But now it turns out the pharmacy hasn't prepared the chemo IV. More waiting. Finally it arrives, but there are two bags of stuff. Nobody told me about a second med, but at this point I just shrugged. Hook me up.¹
Elapsed time: at 11:06 am the IV drip finally starts. No wonder they told me to plan on the whole thing taking five hours. I guess that's 1½ hours of dicking around and 3½ hours of actual chemo.
Luckily I'm in no hurry and I'm feeling very mellow this morning. So everything is OK. Maybe I'll just take a nap for a little while.
¹For those who care, it turned out to be Carfilzomib (Kyprolis). The primary med this time around is Elotuzumab (Empliciti).
It took four different thermometers to get an acceptable reading? Frankly if their thermometers are that far out of calibration I’d wonder about the calibration of the rest of their apparatus … like infusion pumps.
Thinking the same thing.
Kevin can turn the cool on and off as needed, as we have seen for years, but I don't think he'd be just messing around with the infusion clinic. I might, but I don't think he would.
Ehh, more likely it was windy this morning and his skin was chilled and having low blood circulation.
I always fail those because I ride a motorcycle. A minute later and everything is normal.
Perhaps. Assuming it was a skin check rather than sub-lingual.
40 mg of Dex! Ok, you can have a party with the cats. 🐈 🐈
And it will turn the snark up to 11...
Hoping to hear if good results.
Thanks for sharing.
Rest when you can--just not while you're driving to get photos.
Good luck!!
Fuck cancer.
I find it amusing and a bit alarming that the instinct is "get the right numbers" rather than "something is wrong" after multiple fails.
My mom has a non-cancer health condition for which she needs an infusion every eight weeks. You just described what happens every time.
oh gosh hang in there! GET WELL DAMMIT!
A day late but the wish still holds. Wishing you well Kevin.
Curious to hear about your experience with Elotuzumab as it's a monoclonal antibody treatment targeting plasma/myeloma cells.