David Cole, Pharmaceutical Sponge

"I think one probably absorbs things like a sponge and things emerge without your always being aware of it."

- Jeremy Northam, British actor (and one of my favorites)

I had chemo today. For those who have never been, it's rather boring really. You get to the place and they draw your blood and test it to make sure you are healthy enough for the treatment. Then they hook you up to a large bag of saline water that drains intravenously into your body over the course of an hour. Then they hook up other bags, smaller usually, with anti-nausea meds, with magnesium (which Cisplatin depletes), and then they give you the money drug. Cisplatin. It's the big anti-cancer standard, and it's platinum-based. Platinum and life-saving. I can only imagine what the dose they put into me cost. Probably even more than the rising price of gas (petrol, to our English friend). Then another big bag of saline and I'm ready for my portable pump filled with 5FU that runs for 5 days pushing this drug into my system.

It generally takes about 5 hours to do this all, and my job is to be a big sponge and suck up the meds. There's no real nausea or pain involved during the taking of the treatment. It's usually a few days after before the anti-nausea drugs are done and the Cisplatin really begins to do its worst on your body. I find the first two weekends after treatment and the week in-between to be the darkest days of the chemo. Here' s when you barf incessantly, feel awful, and just wish it was over. I haven't looked, but you'd probably find few posts from me during these times during my last 4 chemo sessions. The good news is this is #5, and when the 10 days of hell comes it will be my next to last (hopefully ever) chemo treatment.

In the mean time , I had a great day at chemo, and again it was food related. The kind volunteer lady brought my mom a coffee and some Rold's Gold pretzels. My mom ate a few and the bag was lying there so I figured "Why not?" Well, they are hard, dry, and sharp to cut your mouth . . . could have been a wise response. I did the unwise thing and ate the pretzel. It melted in my mouth, and I chewed it very well. It went down without trouble!!!! So, I had a handful of the bastards and they were delicious. I started thinking. Are Doritos possible? Is God showing me how much he truly loves me?

My mom decides to go get some lunch at the nice little sandwich shop in the hospital. She comes back with a turkey and cheese on white with mayo and lettuce for me. And a pack of potato chips. Ruffles, not Doritos, but hey. I try the sandwich, bread and all. It shoots down without trouble!! Life is grand. Like I said when I ate that sandwhich, I felt like I was coming home. I ate most of the potato chips (again for the Englander, crisps). They were awesome and no trouble to eat. I also drank a peach smoothie and drank a couple cups of apple juice during my treatment. Two weeks ago, I never would have believed I would be eating this well this soon.

So, I decided to be bold and try a burger and fries for dinner. Wendy's has pretty greasy burgers, which is good for me and my saliva-challenged mouth. I can order them without acidic trouble makers like onions, catsup, and mustard. I wanted to try fries after the chips, too. (My English friends must be furious now. Chips=crisps, fries=chips). In any case, I gave it a go and the fries were so hard to eat. They were too dry. I put catsup on them, and the acidity hurt my mouth. The burger was a little better, but after eating maybe half, I had to give up. A little dry, and the little catsup I used was burning me too much. Oh well. I'll try it again in the future and some day re-add that to the menu.

In the mean time, I had a good day. My stomach is a little upset now, and I'm starting to feel the chemo a little (heart burn and fatigue). I'm still trying to go to a viewing tonight for a good friend's dad. Afterwards, I will really sleep like a champ, I'm sure.