One pill makes you smaller... one pill makes you larger... (Jefferson Airplane)
“Step right up, kids! Right this way... Come and see the magic pills. That’s right, an amazing K
aleidoscope in every size and shape! Step right up, that’s right, folks... that’s right... come this way... On the other side of this curtain lie the smallest and most powerful tools in the alchemist’s bag. Guaranteed to confuse and delight you. A treasure trove of emotion sure to leave you feeling like a feeble, disoriented, bloated mess. Ah, but you’ll thank me for it.”
That’s how I felt at the height of my pill taking. This is the regiment I was on during the worse part of the chemo:
Clarinex - every night. Helps with my allergies.
Aciphex - Every night. Helps with the uncontrollable acid the chemo caused.
Warfarin, commonly known as Coumadin - Every night. To ward off a blood clot that having a port might cause. There is no scientific or statistical data that the coumadin actually helps, or that without it I might get a clot, it’s just a precaution.
Melatonin - Every night. Not prescribed. It helps me to sleep.
One day before chemo the following are added:
Emend - Every morning, for three days. To help with Nausea that the chemo causes. (Didn’t help, but I took it anyway)
Temazepam - After chemo, as needed. To help me sleep. No Melatonin then.
Benadryl - as needed. After chemo. To offset the any allergic reaction caused by chemo, and to keep my body from reacting too badly.
Dexamethasone - A steroid, on the day of chemo, then for 3-4 days after the chemo, to prevent a reaction. These were usually tricky because I had to take 2 on the first and second day, then one for two more days. I did, however, have unlimited energy and never felt better. I completed many projects on only three hours sleep, all of them while talking up a storm. Sadly, as my body got used the steroids, the positive effects wore off, never to return.
Neulasta - 24 hours after the end time of chemo. Via injection. To boost white cell count.
Tylenol - As needed. To bring down slight fever sometimes caused by the chemo and shot to boost the white blood cell count.
Fluconazole - Every morning for 10 days at the onset of symptoms. To fight off the fungal infections that frequently developed after chemo, represented by beautiful, internal mouth sores. If a sore developed -- sometimes they showed up in the back of the throat -- I was to begin immediately taking this. Since I could never remember the proper name for the drug, I took to calling it, FUKITOL. Close enough.
Antibiotics, various - As prescribed. Usually taken for 7 to 10 days. These were suggested when those annoying sores would turn out to be an actual sore throat. Prevention is the key to staying healthy, you know.
This does not take into account all the various vitamins I was, and am, taking on my own:
Milk Thistle for liver health and to help the liver detoxify; Vitamin C; B Complex; A Multi-vitamin; Quercetin Complex for lung health - prevents my cough; CosaminDS - Glucosamin Chondroitin Sulfate for my arthritis; CoQ-10, for the same reason as the Cosamin.
Now that I’m on the lighter chemo, I only take the Clarinex, Benadryl, Aciphex and Melatonin, along with the vitamins I listed above.
When my friend, Evelyn, went through the same breast cancer, and treatment, four years earlier, I didn’t realize how prophetic her words would be:
“Geez,” she said. (I’m paraphrasing) “The first thing they should tell you, when you have cancer, is that you’re going to need a personal assistant!” Truer words were never spoken.
Thank you, Barbara.
©2006 Annelise Pichardo
“Step right up, kids! Right this way... Come and see the magic pills. That’s right, an amazing K
aleidoscope in every size and shape! Step right up, that’s right, folks... that’s right... come this way... On the other side of this curtain lie the smallest and most powerful tools in the alchemist’s bag. Guaranteed to confuse and delight you. A treasure trove of emotion sure to leave you feeling like a feeble, disoriented, bloated mess. Ah, but you’ll thank me for it.”That’s how I felt at the height of my pill taking. This is the regiment I was on during the worse part of the chemo:
Clarinex - every night. Helps with my allergies.
Aciphex - Every night. Helps with the uncontrollable acid the chemo caused.
Warfarin, commonly known as Coumadin - Every night. To ward off a blood clot that having a port might cause. There is no scientific or statistical data that the coumadin actually helps, or that without it I might get a clot, it’s just a precaution.
Melatonin - Every night. Not prescribed. It helps me to sleep.
One day before chemo the following are added:
Emend - Every morning, for three days. To help with Nausea that the chemo causes. (Didn’t help, but I took it anyway)
Temazepam - After chemo, as needed. To help me sleep. No Melatonin then.
Benadryl - as needed. After chemo. To offset the any allergic reaction caused by chemo, and to keep my body from reacting too badly.
Dexamethasone - A steroid, on the day of chemo, then for 3-4 days after the chemo, to prevent a reaction. These were usually tricky because I had to take 2 on the first and second day, then one for two more days. I did, however, have unlimited energy and never felt better. I completed many projects on only three hours sleep, all of them while talking up a storm. Sadly, as my body got used the steroids, the positive effects wore off, never to return.
Neulasta - 24 hours after the end time of chemo. Via injection. To boost white cell count.
Tylenol - As needed. To bring down slight fever sometimes caused by the chemo and shot to boost the white blood cell count.
Fluconazole - Every morning for 10 days at the onset of symptoms. To fight off the fungal infections that frequently developed after chemo, represented by beautiful, internal mouth sores. If a sore developed -- sometimes they showed up in the back of the throat -- I was to begin immediately taking this. Since I could never remember the proper name for the drug, I took to calling it, FUKITOL. Close enough.
Antibiotics, various - As prescribed. Usually taken for 7 to 10 days. These were suggested when those annoying sores would turn out to be an actual sore throat. Prevention is the key to staying healthy, you know.
This does not take into account all the various vitamins I was, and am, taking on my own:
Milk Thistle for liver health and to help the liver detoxify; Vitamin C; B Complex; A Multi-vitamin; Quercetin Complex for lung health - prevents my cough; CosaminDS - Glucosamin Chondroitin Sulfate for my arthritis; CoQ-10, for the same reason as the Cosamin.
Now that I’m on the lighter chemo, I only take the Clarinex, Benadryl, Aciphex and Melatonin, along with the vitamins I listed above.
When my friend, Evelyn, went through the same breast cancer, and treatment, four years earlier, I didn’t realize how prophetic her words would be:
“Geez,” she said. (I’m paraphrasing) “The first thing they should tell you, when you have cancer, is that you’re going to need a personal assistant!” Truer words were never spoken.
Thank you, Barbara.
©2006 Annelise Pichardo
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