ZOMETA has potential side effects........

Yesterday I went for my first infusion of Zometa. I had a 9am appointment at the cancer clinic at St John of God hospital in Subiaco. I walked into the infusion suite and was warmly welcomed by the staff. They obviously spotted from miles away that I was a newbie !! Stuck out like a sore thumb !! I was put into the transfusion chair, raised high off the ground and they started. All in all it wasn't bad at all. Watched a bit of tv and relaxed. I must admit, it was a little daunting... Seeing people walking in at all the different stages of cancer and treatment. But mostly they were happy and chatting. I did get a small stab of fear at one stage.... This is something I will need to get used to. And although I sound vain, I worried about loosing my hair. Hopefully I'll be lucky and it won't happen.

I drove to work and jumped straight into the day. There weren't really any side effects. My MD & COO asked me to join them for lunch so we nipped down to our local Italian. Ordered a couple of bottles of Pinot Grigio and "talked shop". I only had one glass of vino, as I was drinking it I started to feel a bit clammy. Once we'd finished I made a very quick exit back to my office (and the aircon)
I was a little fuzzy by about 4pm, so packed up and left for the day. Dirk & I nipped to the shops for some food and by the time we'd finished shopping I was beginning to feel a bit weird. My fingers were tingling and I was feeling a bit cold. As we watched some tv, we looked up the common side effects of Zometa, and as in the movies, as we read them, it was like they took hold !! By 9:30pm I was wrapped in a blanket shivering. My fingertips were numb and I ached all over. Throughout the night I woke up every hour either shivering or hot, but mostly shivering.... Dirk had to get up at 4am and get me an extra blanket. He'd tried cuddling me, but he said I was burning up and couldn't stand it any longer!!

I had a breakfast meeting this morning in the city, 7am start! So when Dirk got up to walk the pups, I got up to have a shower. But this is where things got a bit sticky... I fainted in the shower.... I lost all sight, stumbled and fell out of the door !! (stop laughing Snap & Nags!!!) I managed to make it back to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. I promptly fell back to sleep.... I had a lot of meetings today too, so I was determined to make it in by my 10:30am. At 9am, Dirk called to wake me and I tried again in the shower. I managed to use the shower gel this time before the same feeling came over me. My eyes went black and I started to shake... So back to bed. I was blessed by my cleaning lady before she left at midday... she was brushing my brow and blowing on me.... but it felt nice :-) I eventually woke up around 2:30pm this afternoon. Feeling a little bit better, but still like I'm coming out of the back end of a big flu bug. Not nice. Even my eyes ache :-(

And so I've tried to get my water intake up today. 2 liters so far... Another one to go. Dirk is at cricket training & I'm watching "Come Dine With Me". Hopefully I'll make it into work tomorrow and be able to catch up. Two sick days this week :-( and it was a short week !! Not good. Next month I'm going to try and book the infusion for a Friday. At least if the side effects kick in I'll be at home for the weekend. I have read that the side effects are worse after the first infusion.... Let's hope so....... I can't imagine getting "flu" every month!!

Day41....

Zometa
Common side effects for patients with multiple myeloma and bone metastases due to solid tumors include bone pain, nausea, fatigue, anemia, fever, vomiting, constipation, shortness of breath, diarrhea, weakness, muscle pain, anorexia, cough, joint pain, lower-limb swelling, worsening of your cancer, headache, dizziness (excluding vertigo), insomnia, decreased weight, back pain, numbness/tingling, and abdominal pain. These side effects are listed regardless of any potential association with the medications used in registration studies of ZOMETA in bone metastases patients.

Please, don't wake me, no, don't shake me...... Leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping.......

The wedding was fanTASTic .... Such a beautiful day. The bride looked amazing, there was so much fun, laughter and love around. Everyone was just 100% happy. Throughout the day I had moments of chemical buzzing, but mostly ignored the feelings. I even managed a couple of dances .... We finished around 11:30pm and went home to bed.

And that is pretty much where the weekend ended. The feelings of shakes and buzzing returned with a vengeance on Monday and I wasn't really able to move at all. To give you an idea of how I'm feeling is really hard to describe, but I'll give it a go. My lips throb - a little like you've eaten something that you're allergic to. At the same time my teeth feel very metally... and they kind of pulsate too. My whole body feels very sluggish. It's like my blood is now as thick as cake mixture.... or one of those volcanic mud springs you see on the Discovery Channel, and so every time by heart tries to pump my blood around my body, it takes more effort. My legs and arms feel heavy so it's a struggle to just do normal activities. Like walking and getting out of bed !!! They constantly tingle - not to mention the hand shaking, which makes me look like I have Parkinson's disease at the moment. My back is aching again too (probably from wearing high heels all day) all I want to do is sleep. I think this is the first time since I started my drugs that I've really felt so tired. It has finally caught up with me.... It's now Tuesday evening and all I have done today is sleep too. I feel weak and fragile. Tomorrow I have to go to hospital for the Zometa infusion. Hopefully it won't make me feel worse - soooo hope it doesn't make me feel worse..... Work had to take a back seat today. When I woke at 7am I still couldn't move.... I was just so wiped out. So I've spent most of the day sleeping again. I'm just worried that I haven't caught up enough yet though !! I guess this is just what happens every now and again. I just have to listen to my body and go with it.

But, having said all that, I did have a good weekend. The wedding was fab. And that's all that mattered. I'm going to be an aunty again :-) (YAY !! my bro and sil have just announced the news so I know it's safe to share) And I got to relax and sleep a lot - isn't that what weekends are all about?? I think so.....

Day39....

From the moment I wake up....... Before I put on my makeup...... I say a little prayer for you..

So it's finally the day of my friends wedding !! Yay !! So excited. The dress fits.... well it did yesterday. I have a new bag, polished toe nails and am feeling.... ummm... ok ish !!
Yesterday was a big drug day... all 3 CTD had to be taken so by the end of the day I was a bit of a mess. The shaking really hasn't stopped yet. The lack of taste buds is getting worse and the fuzziness is still a bit of an issue. Nothing much can be done about it all, so you just really have to suck it up and carry on. By 8pm last night, I was sick of sucking..... I couldn't really function any more. So we watched a bit of tv before I collapsed into bed and passed out.

Last time we caught up, we were having friends over for "Fri Nite Pizza Nite" Now you all know how frustrated I get about let downs.... Friday was no exception.... my bestie turned up alone as there was another last minute sick kid !!  Bloody kids... I tell you - why do people bother? I really don't get it !! They mess up everything ... rant over... (and I know you breeders out there will all have positive things to say about being a parent... blah blah blah.... I've heard it all - it's just not for me) BUT anyway.... getting back to my night - my friend from UK was here and my two besties. Beautiful bottle of Moet Nectar (my absolute favourite champers) and straight into chatting and laughing. Dirk took Andrew to the airport to catch his flight back home around 8:30pm and us girls didn't miss a beat (or a sip) We talked without taking a breath and gradually polished off two bottles of bubbles and a fantastic bottle of Cloudy Bay SSB. Nothing untoward, just talk talk talk.... weddings, old stories, work, health, cancer, sex, partners, husbands, ex's.... you name it we talked about it. LOVED It !! I had to wrestle the keys from Snap before she left as she really thought she'd be ok to drive home.... I think not !! I promised her I'd have her car back early in the morning and Di dropped her off.
The next morning when we dropped her car off she was in a darkened room with a sick bucket by the bed and a lavender wheat mask across her eyes !!! hahahaha - love you Snap !! I'm not sure she was going to make it to the kiddies party she was supposed to be going to at 10:30am !! I don't think her hubby was too pleased.... but we don't do it often, she was home before midnight, so I have to say - get over it !! She's my bestie and it was a night we really needed together.

I've been getting complaints about the lack of blog being penned !! WTF !! I thought this was about me ?? haha If I don't have anything to put down, I can't just drivel on. I feel like I drivel on a bit as it is... to drivel more every day would just be a big bore.... and I hate to be boring !! So you guys will just have to bide your time and wait for updates as they come. OK? ;-)

The only other thing at the moment that is annoying is our puppy - Maverick - he is constantly chewing EVERYTHING !!! Bless him he's a cute, cuddly, funny (massive) dog, but I'm sick of losing all of our cushions and citronella candles to him. If you leave it out, he'll eat it !! Dirk went to smear Vic's Vapor Rub on stuff, but he likes it so licks it off !! We finally had the last part of the pool fixed on Thursday - the auto water filler - by Thursday evening Mav had dug it up, pulled out the wiring and eaten it !! arrrgghhhh we were NOT happy. And I think Mav got the gist of our mood !! After all the abuse I gave to the pool company on Thursday, I think it's best that we don't do business with them again (12 times to come fix issues - and they think that's acceptable) So off to Bunnings this morning to replace the wiring we lost and hopefully Dirk can fix it.

I am so excited about today. I will have part two of this blog to continue tomorrow..... and probably some pics of the day too. It's a long weekend in Perth so tomorrow will be good for recovery. And to think I should have been in Toronto right now, the mining show is on that I'm running from afar. So hopefully all the men on the stand will do the right thing and make it a good one. Daily reports back to me should be interesting, but they're a good bunch so fingers crossed they'll make me look good !! I have faith !!