90 degree turn

Yesterday I received my 12th Folfox treatment (leucovorin/5-FU/Oxaliplatine).
In fact, I have not received it in full because only 3 minutes after the start of the oxaliplatin (which is given over 2 hours) I had an allergic reaction with a major drop in blood pressure. That was enough to spike the stress level of the nurse and my wife. The nurse who took care of me was tensed when she saw my pressure drop to 80/53 in a few seconds. I went from scarlet red to green/white according to my wife. I sweated profusely. I felt like a rock was in my stomach that gave me nausea. I had also an urgentneed to defecate. All this despite 50 mg of Benadryl given in prophylaxis. This whole episode lasted about 10 minutes during which they gave me a shot Solu-Cortef to stop the reaction and try to raise my blood pressure. When my blood pressure started to come back to normal they added another 25mg of Benadryl. Naturally they stopped the Oxaliplatin right away.

We knew that one day I would no longer tolerate this poison but I believed it would be later. Let's say we had to go to option #2 a bit earlier.
Option #2 is is Folfiri. It is almost the same cocktail with the exception of oxalipatine which is replaced by Irinotecan (Camptosar). The latter has different side effects than the Oxaliplatin. Instead of the neuropathy which gave me a hypersensitivity to cold in the form of tingling in the fingertips, nose and toes, I will now have to manage diarrhea.

So I went back to hospital today to get my Folfiri. It is 22:30 when I write this blog and the treatment is well tolerated.

The positive side:
-My fingers are expected to return to normal within a few weeks
-The product change could have a beneficial effect and accelerate the disappearance of the lesions. You should know that cancer cells are smart and can adapt to the poison that we throw at them and successfully resist after a while. So, changing the poison can surprise the cells and lead to better response. Cross our fingers.

Conclusion we must always be ready to take a 90 degrees turn.