Day 2 Dose 2 | Heartburn and Hiccups

 I committed to writing something everyday so I will stand by my commitment.  I have always prided myself on sticking by what I say.  My actions AND my words.  So here is the update from Room #5 today.  

Not to be confused with Mombo #5.  

One Two Three Four Five, all the days I got to make it through.  
There is a ride going on and there is a drug store around the corner.  
They nurses say I need more Chemo but I don't wanna.
Last week was not as check, I must say cause talk is cheep.  
My nurses are Brea, Tina, Sandy and Tammy.
And as we continue I only get sweeter. 
So what can I do? I always say a prayer, my lord

So lets set it to the trumpet

A little bit of Zofran in my life
A little bit of Saline by my side
A little bit of Time is all I need
A little bit of Tina is what I see
A little bit of Relief in the sun
A little bit of Phenergan all night long
A little bit of Chemo, here I am
A little bit of surgery yet still a man.

So that was totally random and I might delete later.  

So the title says it all.  The Heartburn and Hiccups were from taking all that Decadron which is a steroid.  For you non-clinical people that is a LOT of Steroid.  And it causes the heartburn and the hiccups.  They reduced my daily dose down to 4 MG today, a normal dose.  And almost instantly the heartburn hit and the hiccups hit hard.  It got to the point where every hiccup came with a little acid from the stomach.  So they gave my some Pepcid, and some Baclofin for the hiccups and some phenergan to try and help relax everything.  Well that is a lot of medications that can make you drowsy.  So I have been fighting that all day.  I did nap for an hour in the infusion center.  But I have been fighting it the rest of the day so I could work.  And also so I can sleep tonight.  I need to try and keep some form of a sleep schedule. 

So to sum up this morning, rough.  But I told them that if this is what I need to endure then it is what I will endure.  I can manage and tolerate all of the hiccups and heartburn for the next week.  But they still want to remove the steroids all together.  I am going to try to convince them to start back Thursday.  We will see.  

Also special thanks to Denise from the pharmacy in Rockwell for helping today with navigating the Baclofin.  They did not have it at the Cancer Institute and she was on the spot with trying to get my some from the pharmacy, but they called the hospital pharmacy and got me some.  So special thanks to her for helping.  

Same nurse that I had yesterday Brea, she is great!  They all are great.  The whole process has been a good experience.  I can not really ask for better care or a better experience from a clinical perspective.  

Today Amanda and Brady came to see me and try to show their support.  I did not pay attention to her text messages because I got a lot of message this morning from work and I was not in a position to respond.  So I missed them.  She will call next time, she promises.  They were going to visit me through the window.  I can not wait for them to come back.  I honestly was looking forward to that all day and was so sad I missed it.  

So I encourage anyone who wants to come support me through the window to come on, we will make it happen somehow.  Just call me because the work text can be overwhelming for me.  

Here is the picture from Day 1, I did not want to post it till I got permission, but here is the rockstar nurses taking care of me.  Brea and Tina.  They are supported by an amazing Nurse Practitioner who is awesome!

Otherwise I am feeling in great spirits, and do not have much to complain about.  I do worry my hair will be thin and I am going to miss my thick hair.  But it is just part of the journey.  I should start feeling the chemo effect tomorrow with the hardest day coming this weekend for about a 4 day period.  Bring it on!  

I just ask for patience from everyone.  I am taking this one day at a time and my patience I am finding is thin, probably all the drugs. 

So tomorrow it starts getting real so keep the positive vibes and support coming.