9:00 Arrival at Hôpital Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart Hospital). I had my blood work done the day before so I can report my presence immediately to the coordinator of treatment. I saved 45 minutes today this way. She is responsible for preparing, in collaboration with the pharmacy, bags for intaveinous infusion along with the specific protocols that she will give to the nurse in the treatment room.
9:15 The nurse in the treatment room calls me up and I get set-up in a leather armchair the reclining kind. This room contains 4 seats therefore 4 patients at a time.
9:45 The nurse now comes to take care of me. She must remove the bandages covering my transparent piccline then sanitize the region of insertion in the body. She flushes the piccline meaning she introduces a saline solution in the piccline tubing to be sure it is free of obstructions.
9:50 She installs my bag of Avastin (Bevacizumab) said this ten times in a row.
This bag is empty in 90 minutes. I read and listen to the radio at the same time. Josée sits on a small stool beside me. It is not very comfortable for her.
11:30 Avastin is now done. I get Kytril (granisetron) as my next perfusion. It's an anti nausea drug that lasts 24 hours. It is administered in 10 minutes.
11:40 Now the Oxiplatine and Leucovorin (folinic acid). Two bags at the same time for 2 hours. At this point I read half of Lance Armstrong's book. The Oxiplatine is the product that gives me the impression of having the fingertip like a pin cushion. This takes several minutes and then disappears. Then it returns from time to time during the evening and the two days following. My skin is also sensitive to cold for some time but all in all I tolerate pretty well all the poisons they give me.
13:45 Now time for the last part of the protocol FOLFOX (Oxaliplatin + Leucovorin +5 FU) : 5FU or Fluorouracil. This is the one that I have in my bottle during 46 hours. It begins with a bolus infusion over ten minutes and then the nurse installs the bottle on the piccline (see photos).
14:00 I am heading home. Josée took advantage of the time we were at the hospital for a few administrative details (copy of scan on CD, monthly parking packages, etc.). She also brought me lunch. I realise it is a long day for her but I know I could not do it without her present.
The Avastin has now added 90 minutes to the routine. In the third treatment they can make the infusion in 60 minutes and after that in 30 minutes.
Now you know to the minute the unfolding of MY chemo because you must also understand that each case is treated a little differently depending on their situation. Next to me today I had another man who had colon cancer. He was about my age. He had the privilege of having discovered the cancer early enough to be eligible for a radical total colostomy without a bag. He had a different catheter, implanted in the chest like a pacemaker and received preventive chemotherapy or in other words a chemo which ensured that there was no remaining cancer after surgery. His process and medicines was a little different from mine.
Good night!
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