The day my pump gets unhooked has become a mostly wasted
day. Today was no exception. I got a
few calls made and a few chores done this morning, but after Mr. G unhooked me,
flushed the lines and injected the Heparin that prevents clotting I pretty much zonked out for the rest of the
day. I don’t know what causes the fatigue when I come off the pump, but it hits
me every time. It’s not all lost time, though because on the days I’m too tired
to do much else I can always read and learn new things. And play on the Internet.
The 46 hours on the
5 FU aren’t too bad, except for the nasty facial flushing that makes me look
and feel like my face is on fire. The rest of me can have chill bumps, but my face
feels like I’ve had my head in a furnace, so I spend a lot of time peeping out
from behind a cool washcloth. The other side effect that is most bothersome for
those 46 hours are the jaw spasms that are most likely caused by the
Oxaliplatin rather than the 5 FU.
Whenever I try to eat or drink after getting a treatment, my jaw locks
up. It lasts only for the first few
bites, and finally goes away so I can eat normally, but it’s a really strange
sensation, especially the very first time it happens. Fortunately, I was given info sheets before my first treatment that listed all the possible side effects from the various drugs
and advised which side effect were not normal and should be
reported immediately. So far, I’ve been lucky in avoiding most of the side
effects and those I have gotten are more annoyances than anything else. A lot of chemo patients are not so fortunate
and suffer really debilitating effects; some are unable to continue treatment
because of them. So as I said, I’ve
been very fortunate, and the oncology nurses have been very helpful in giving out tips on how to deal
with some of the problems chemo patients encounter.
One of the best tips so far has been to suck on a peppermint
candy while I’m getting the heparin flush. Whenever that heparin injection began to go in, I could smell it and taste
it and it was most unpleasant. When I found out that heparin is an animal
derived product, made from mucosal tissues of porcine (pig) intestines or bovine (cattle) lungs, it set my mind going
off in all directions. But anyway, as long as I don’t get so full of the stuff
that I begin to oink or moo and get a wild desire to wallow in mud, I guess all
is well. And the peppermint really does help mask the smell and the taste,
thank goodness.
One thing I did
wonder about when I discovered that the heparin came from pigs and cattle was
whether that presented a problem for people whose religions had restrictions on
the use of certain animals. I discovered that this issue has been studied
extensively. The results of one study, conducted by researchers at the Herlev
Hospital, University of Copenhagen were published in the journal, BMC
Medical Ethics 2013, 14:48. The researchers contacted religious and spiritual leaders of the
six largest religions worldwide (18 branches) and sent them a questionnaire
regarding their position on the use of human and animal derived products in
medical and surgical treatments. They received ten responses representing the
six largest religions worldwide. The researchers reported “that among the
largest (by number of adherents worldwide) religious branches, several of them
had restrictions regarding the use of animal derived medical products. Hindus
and Sikhs did not accept the use of bovine or porcine containing products, and
Muslims did not accept the use of porcine drugs, dressings or implants.
Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews and Buddhists accepted the use of all animal
or human derived drugs, dressings and implants. Interestingly, all religions
accepted the use of animal derived products if there were no alternatives or if
they were used in an emergency situation.”
So now we know. This
whole chemo experience has been a learning opportunity so far, and that’s a
good thing I think.
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