Chemo: Round 1, Day 1 - And more tubes

I started my first day of "Chemo Lite" yesterday and Greg wrote a detailed post about everything that entails.  These temperary rounds of chemo are supposed to just go ahead and get some drugs in my body until we are able to transition to the very aggressive form of chemo that is supposed to have the "best outcome" for treating ovarian cancer.  Statistically, ovarian cancer does not have good survival rates - 7 out of 10 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die within 5 years of diagnosis.  As much as the aggressive form of chemo sounds terrible, I know it is what we need to do as quickly and as many times as possible.

"Chemo Lite" is lower doses of two drugs given more frequently than usually prescribed.  Because the doses are lower you can end up with fewer side effects after each treatment. Also, because they are able to give the doses weekly as opposed to every three weeks, I end up getting more of the drug overall.  The most common side effects are:

1. Fatigue 

2. Nausea/Vomiting 

3. Hair Loss

Since I had a horrendous experience with 9 days of constant nausea and vomiting in the hospital, and I already have a weak stomach, I was/am most nervous about throwing up.  Luckily, so far so good!  They load you up with anti-nausea and other meds at the infusion center and I was told that most people will not experience any side effects the first day.  I  was able to sleep most of the time I was getting the meds and chemo.  When they came in to tell me I was done, I didn't really feel any different other than a little sleepy.  Because day 2 and 3 are usually the worst days of treatment, I am on a constant regimen of anti-nausea meds to hopefully keep any sickness at bay.  This morning I would say that I don't feel sick, but my stomach feels different.

Urology News:

"Someone else is praying for the things you take for granted"

In other news, after my infusion we had to visit my Urologist-Oncologist's office because even with the new catheter tube, my pelvic drain is still collecting ALOT of fluid.  The hope was that the catheter would divert any urine from my bladder so that it didn't have an opportunity to spill into my abdominal cavity.  Once my abdomen is urine free we can start thinking about the next surgery to repair all of my plumbing issues.  Since there is still "spillage" the urine is not allowing everything to heal and is delaying the surgery.  As I said earlier, we need everything to heal so I can start the aggressive form of chemo treatment. Therefore, learning that all my tubes aren't accomplishing the desired results was a real let down.  The urologist is recommending that we put in another nephrostomy tube on my left side (through my ribs to drain my good kidney) hopefully eliminating the urine from going to my bladder and therefore eliminating the possibility that urine can spill out of my bladder and into my abdomin.  This would bring me to a total of 4 tubes; right nephrostomy, left nephrostomy, pelvic drain, and foley catheter.  Needless to say, I am not excited about the idea of ANOTHER tube going into my body, but I just want things to start healing as quickly as possible.  The longer urine is not where it's supposed to be, the greater likelihood for permanent damage.  It's very important that we have the best conditions possible for my urerter re-implantation surgery.  Worst case scenario would be a permanent nephrostomy tube if the surgey is unsuccessful.  We will find out on Monday when we are scheduled for the new tube.