When we came to Rochester last Thursday to meet with my doctors, Dr. Wiisanen said that since my neutrophil count got to be so low and I had fevers, he recommends that I be put on a medication called Neulasta after I finish this week’s sprint of chemo therapy.
What this medication does is that it ramps up bone marrow production in your body and allows it to strengthen up your immune system in case of any infections may arise. My initial question was “What are the side effects?” he said some bone aches mainly in the pelvis and legs but he can prescribe Oxycodone and for some resason Claratin-D works to reduce the achiness as well.
I have two options, either come in on Saturday about 24 hours to get a shot of Neulasta or they can put a patch on my abdomen or arm on Friday afternoon that will administer the drug via a small needle on Saturday.
Dad decided to do some research over the weekend regarding this drug and found some really bad testimonials from people.
I had 4 Neulasta shots, after each of my 4 DD AC’s and just about died from the pain. Not only did it begin about 36 hrs after the shot, and last 3 days or so, it would then dissipate and hit real hard again about day 8 – I swore I could feel the bone marrow churning in my bones. Sometimes the pain was so unbearable I could not walk like a normal human.
Another person wrote
You have described my reaction to the “shot of death” as I so lovingly call it PERFECTLY. I also cried the night before going in for my Neulasta injection. Chemo is a walk in the park compared to Neulasta. ..and to be told to take Tylenol and Claritin for the pain that I have, is a joke…and insulting. This is my third injection of Neulasta, and I’m not doing it again unless they give me a PAIN med.. :/
Others have said that the pain lasts way past their chemo therapy and I saw one that said they developed arthritis afterwards.
I know these are anecdotal and that the people who have the worst symptoms are going to complain about it but I still have to do my due diligence about what the doctors put in my body.
I spoke to a few of the nurses while I’ve been doing chemo and they said they basically hand it out like candy to all their patients. Rarely do they see severe pain and I can just take pain meds and Claratin-D a day before they administer the shot and several days after to manage the pain.
Dad found a clinical study in England where they saw positive results in men with germ cell tumors doing BEP type chemo while on Neulasta.
One benefit I see in using it is that since I have the PICC line in, I need to be careful of infections so Neulasta would help with that.
I feel like I’m at a crossroads because I don’t mind going back to the hospital if I get a fever but what if it becomes much worse than what I had before? The side effects just seem scary.
Chemo went very smoothly yesterday. The moment I sat down in the chair, I started feeling nauseous right away fro some reason. Thankfully they already had the saline solution and the anti-nausea drips ready for me as they keep it in a cabinet. I got hooked up at around 9:45 and the queasy feeling went away after a few minutes.
I have to say, the PICC line works great. They’re able to pump more fluid and at a faster rate than through the IV which I like because it reduces the time it takes to do all the chemo meds.
Flushing the line is a breeze too, you can see how fast they pull blood out and pump saline into me.
Feel free to click or mouse over the pictures below for a quick description of all the stuff they pumped into me today.
My symptoms today were metal mouth, dry hands, achy joints in my hands, and for an hour water tasted sweet.
The cancer center is split up into about 30 rooms. Most have reclining chairs but you can also request a bed too if you’d like. I think I like the chair better because it has a heater and massage function. I kind of wish there was a way to have social interaction with other people if you choose to. Since I’m the youngest person I’ve seen getting treatment, it would be nice to hear other people’s stories if they’re willing to share to pass the time.
If you walk through the halls of the Mayo campus you’ll notice that there are older people wearing blue jackets who are volunteers. Many help offering directions to patients and their families. Here at the cancer center, they walk around offering trays of snacks.
I asked this woman why she volunteers her time to Mayo and she says that out of the two hours that she volunteers each day, she gets more than she gives. Her son was 28 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He lived in DC at the time of his diagnosis and moved to live with his parents in Rochester to receive treatment at Mayo for 13 months. She’s grateful to the hospital and she decided to give back her time by helping others going through similar situations.
I appreciate her time and the sweet potato chips she brings me every hour 🙂
I’ve got a pretty good setup now to pass the time: snacks and drink to my left, warmed blanket, heated chair, and my laptop. There’s a tv with directv and movies but I feel like I spend more time channel surfing since it’s just daytime tv.
I wrapped up with chemo at 1:30, just in time to make it to the cafeteria for lunch before they closed at 2.
We got back to the hotel around 2:30 and the last text I remember sending was to Joanna before passing out was:
[2:59 PM, 7/17/2018] Andrew Loo: Laying in bed now, starting to get tired
I passed out until 5:30. It’s a little frustrating how tired you get after doing chemo. I can feel my body start to slow down. I know that I’ll start feeling more of the intense symptoms after day 3.
