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.