When I met with my doctor last week, he presented me with a personalized copy of my Stanford V drug regimen - a simple spreadsheet with big unassuming "X"s to mark which drugs I'd receive in which weeks. Simply put, the regimen alters weekly between destroying cells and building them up. Some drugs can better distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous cells; but there are not, as yet, any magic drugs: cells are cells and they all die rather indiscriminately. Hence the recovery weeks.In addition to the IV regimen, I'll be swallowing a pill factory of "supportive" medications: some daily, twice daily, or three times a day; others twice a day only on weekends. (Go figure.) These supportive medications are aimed at controlling some of the more deleterious side effects of the primary drugs.
As someone who, as I said, eschews even her daily dose of "Vitamin M", I had to research all of these drugs to see exactly what was being fed into my body, tarnished temple of the Holy Spirit that it is. Thus I begin an occasional series of "Meet the Drugs", in which (at the risk of shrinking into the miniscule, rapid-fire disclaimers bracketing all good pharma ads) I shall introduce each of these chemical concoctions, for the greater edification of all.
So, (with a great debt to Wikipedia,) we begin with this week's drug of choice: Doxorubicin, C27H29NO11, which I will take on odd-numbered weeks (1, 3, 5, & 7). Doxorubicin is a widely used cancer drug, which unwinds DNA, preventing the double helix from resealing and thus breaking the replication chain.
Doxorubicin is one of the drugs that I'll be taking which causes hair loss (or alopecia). It can also cause nausea and vomiting, skin darkening, sores on the mouth and lips; and in high doses, cardiac problems such as irregular heartbeats and congestive heart failure. (My cumulative dose will be about 1/5 of the typical threshold for serious heart problems.)
Doxorubicin is sensitive to light, so it often is shielded with an aluminum bag to prevent it from decomposing before it enters the body.
5 comments:
For the record, I can't figure out why some posts (or parts of posts) are single-spaced, and others are 1.5-spaced. It's not some devious trick I'm trying to play on y'all...
You are a strong and brave chicklet, V! These drugs are liquid gold for you - potions to save that amazing life of yours!
Good luck tomorrow - and remember.....sedation is my friend!
Your friend, maybe; but not mine!!
Do people dream when they're sedated?
This post is so you. Knowledge is power. :)
If sedation = general anesthesia, then no, no dreams - at least as far as I know. When I was put under, it was as if the time disappeared: I was awake and then..I was awake, with the procedure over.
If sedation is different, though, then...? You'll find out. :)
Hugs for tomorrow, and can't wait to see you wednesday!
When I got my port put in, it was not general anesthesia, but some kind of sedation where you are still alert and can talk to them, but you don't remember anything when you come out of it.
But same as viola - I was alert, and then ... I was alert and the procedure was over.
100...99...98...97....next thing you know, you're awake and it's done.
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