Brandon began chemotherapy on Monday. So far, he has completed two treatments and will have five more - 3 more this week, and then one treatment on each of the following two Mondays. This is a scary thing I tell you. It's an awful, potent, but wonderful poison that you are knowingly pushing through your veins. It's scary.
Brandon has been wonderful though. We went early Monday morning and the nurses started his IV steroid (for nausea) and fluids. Brandon's chemo regimen is a bit unusual. He is actually being treated with three different chemotherapy drugs at once - bleomycin, etopocide, and cisplatin. They are given separately during each treatment, which drags each session out for hours and hours (5 or 6 each day). After the initial fluids, the nurse ask Brandon to stand up so that she could put a sheet under him in his chair while she gave him a "test dose" of the bleomycin. When I ask why, she simply replied that a sheet underneath him would make it much easier to move him in case of reaction. Yikes.
She pushed a small amount of the "bleo" in to test, and he did fine. Within a few minutes, the nurse was satisfied and she continued with the rest of the bleo regimen. After 30 mins, they switched drugs on him - this time it was Etopocide. This just sounds awful. After this treatment (which lasted about one hour), the nurse gave Brandon a diuretic through his IV - this makes him empty his bladder every few minutes. They explained that the next treatment, the cisplatin, is very toxic to the kidneys and it is very important for Brandon to empty his bladder often. If the cisplatin sits in his kidneys, it will poison them and cause bad things to happen. After the two hours of cisplatin (and many many trips to the potty) we were free to go home.
We were glad to get home, where I made Brandon a chocolate milkshake and he was able to rest. He hasn't felt too nauseous (they have given him lots of anti-nausea meds to keep in his arsenal though), but he has been very tired. The nurses have the opinion that his tiredness is probably more from sitting all day than the chemo at this point. They say that the latter part of this week and weekend will be when Brandon's symptoms are at their peek.
But Brandon is an all-star. He still has his humor and has been eating, drinking, and sleeping well. The nurses love him - probably because he's the youngest person they're treating by 40 years. He really enjoys the phone calls, texts, and messages everyone has been sending.
Excuse my poor writing skills tonight - I'm rambling and I'm probably making no sense. I wanted to keep you updated, but to be honest I'm exhausted and my nerves are shot :)
Goodnight friends - here is my handsome husband - even while getting chemo :)
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