Cytoxin is pretty nasty stuff.

My Mom likes to look nice, and she bought a whole new wardrobe of track suits, button front tops and pajamas to wear at the hospital.  You know things are bad when she abandons them all for a hospital gown.

They started preparing her for the Cytoxan at 6am on Monday.  Treatment began at 10am.  They side effects were immediate and severe.  Her face turned bright red and she experienced burning in her sinuses and bronchial passages.  She spent the entire day vomiting.  They did an EKG just to make sure her chest pain was not heart- related.  It wasn’t.   Turns out they had forgotten to give her acid reflux medication for the past 4 days (which she takes regularly) and once the vomiting started, things got out of hand quickly.  They countered the redness and burning with protonix and benedryl, gave her more zofran and a dose of the pain killer delaudid for fun.

No fun was had.  She couldn’t manage to talk on the phone with anyone, but my Dad was with her all day.

I spoke with her at 8:30 AM this morning (Tuesday), and she was preparing for the next round.  They are giving her benadryl, protonix, zofran and dilauded BEFORE they start the chemo this time, rather than waiting to see what reaction she has (um, hello?  What a great idea…).  She has 3 more days of Cytoxan– today, and next Monday and Tuesday

My Dad stayed home today and played with Michael for the first time since Tuesday.  It did them both good.

I’m glad she gets a “break” from the chemo starting tomorrow.

We knew it wouldn’t be a picnic.  Still wish it could be easier on her.