Barbara and I drove to Dana Farber yesterday in anticipation of my third chemo infusion. Unfortunately, I never got it. Before the infusion, they check a whole bunch of blood indicators and it turns out that my sodium level was 128 where they demand a minimum of 130. They gave me a bag of potato chips, some salty crackers and a bottle of V-8 (known to be salty) and tested me again. Same thing. We ended up sitting there for 5 hours and then they sent us away, deciding to treat this as a missed dosage. They did not seem to think this was a big deal, but they are not the ones with the disease.
The part that bothers me most is that this treatment is supposed to be part of a clinical trial. It is because it is a clinical trial that they insisted on the minimum sodium threshold. If I had not been on the clinical trial, they said they would have given me the chemo treatment anyway. This makes me wonder if the clinical trial details are more important than treatment.
So, I guess we will see what happens on Saturday when my next infusion is scheduled. We have purchased a six-pack of V-8 for me to drink on the way down to DF and I am thinking of picking up a package of Cape Cod Potato Chips to snack on while they are taking the blood sample.
Other than that, things are pretty good. By deviating slightly from my recommended pain meds, I have managed to find a combination that makes me feel pretty good and be pretty lively. Of course, tomorrow, they want me to try yet another scheme which I will do; hopefully, it will work as well or better.
Last night, after getting bounced from DF, we drove to have dinner with friends Patsy, Jim and Anita. We had a lovely dinner and evening. I could not drink wine, but I found that oxycodone is an acceptable substitute.
The part that bothers me most is that this treatment is supposed to be part of a clinical trial. It is because it is a clinical trial that they insisted on the minimum sodium threshold. If I had not been on the clinical trial, they said they would have given me the chemo treatment anyway. This makes me wonder if the clinical trial details are more important than treatment.
So, I guess we will see what happens on Saturday when my next infusion is scheduled. We have purchased a six-pack of V-8 for me to drink on the way down to DF and I am thinking of picking up a package of Cape Cod Potato Chips to snack on while they are taking the blood sample.
Other than that, things are pretty good. By deviating slightly from my recommended pain meds, I have managed to find a combination that makes me feel pretty good and be pretty lively. Of course, tomorrow, they want me to try yet another scheme which I will do; hopefully, it will work as well or better.
Last night, after getting bounced from DF, we drove to have dinner with friends Patsy, Jim and Anita. We had a lovely dinner and evening. I could not drink wine, but I found that oxycodone is an acceptable substitute.
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