Chemo-16 today.

The recurrent and progressive thought of having a chemotherapy session every week is so powerful that the day before the session would be highly impacted by that thought! Such is the power of the chemotherapy!

I have had my 16th dose of Cetuximab and 6th dose of Irinotecan today as part of this week's chemotherapy. Though the last week is relatively a good one for me, the infusion of the Irinotecan can change the course of the next couple of weeks!

Some of the highlights of this week's session:

• the white blood count was 8.4 which is on higher side of the prescribed range of 4.0 - 8.0! This was the first time in my entire chemotherapy sessions that white blood corpuscles' population reached the higher limits of the prescribed ranges. This would have a positive effect on the immunity, though the infusion of Irinotecan and the use of Capecetabine for the next two weeks would again eat into the counts!
• there was a huge delay in getting the oral report of my weekly blood test today. It took almost three hours for the nursing staff to get the report from testing lab! This had a ripple effect on the treatment and discharge times. (I was discharged at around 7:30 PM instead of the usual 5 PM!)
• the nursing staff had a tough time this week too to get a proper vein, which would be used for the infusion of the drugs. After two pricks, each in left and right hands, they managed to get a vein in my left forefinger, which was a point of high inconvenience!
  
• my medical oncologist, Dr.Niti Narang spoke to me and was feeling positive about my body responding to the chemotherapy drugs. Of course, talking to her has always been an experience for me given her positive reinforcing words for me! :)

I reached home at around 8:45 PM today after getting discharged. I am feeling now terribly tired with my colostomy bag roaring since I had not much food today, and feeling drowsy and dull after the day's session! I wish the next couple of weeks would be smooth for me! :)

(Attached is a simple and video of my getting infused with chemotherapy drugs. I smiled in the video not because of the joys of getting the painful infusion but because life has given me more surprises! :) My mother was lost in her thoughts as well in the video!)