When you talk about chemotherapy, you are talking about numerous drugs used to attack cancer. Chemo is used to attack cancer at numerous sites verses radiation which is used to attack cancer at specific locations.
Some of these drugs are very specific and tend to attack only the cancer itself. A perfect example of this would be Velcade which is the first chemotherapy that I received. Other than being tired the first week, I had very few side effects, constipation being the primary culprit. If you are a steady reader of this blog, I’m sure you remember my difficulties there, certainly something I won’t forget anytime soon.
Other drugs can bring along with them several side effects that I have also mentioned here. Some of those side effects can be minimized by the amount of the drug you receive and other drugs utilized to reduce the discomfort. I’m afraid that the chemotherapy that I received in the hospital was one of those that brought several friends with it to the dance.
Part of the reason that I had as many side effects as I had was because of the amount of Melphalan that I received. In normal use, you receive one dose and then wait two to four weeks for round two. Now sure how many doses I received, but when I receive the bill, it was for eight units. There was some discussion if I would receive all eight or just four because of my kidney situation. However, because of the rest of my generally good health and improved kidney function, the team felt that the normal eight for this procedure would be appropriate.
It has now been forty four days since I received the Melphalan. Although I feel much better than before, there are some lingering effects. The good thing is that I have saved $15 on a haircut. Since Justin cut it when I came home, there has been no growth what-so-ever. In fact, I now only need to shave every couple of days and even that only takes about 15 seconds. I grew more peach fuzz on my upper lip when I was in the seventh grade.
My stomach is much better, but I still suffer from some indigestion. This is from a guy that never, ever had any stomach issues. Luckily, it hasn’t slowed down my eating, just made me a little more conservative on what I eat.
I am really working on my stamina with my 25 minute walk (1.3 miles) every morning. It is helping, but I still tire too easily for my taste. The bottom of my feet still suffer from numbness, especially my left foot. I think it is getting better, but too slow to be sure.
Not sure if this is related, but I have soreness in my jaw, like I went to the dentist and he had me open my mouth too wide. I have to take my time when eating a sandwich, but other than that no big deal.
Of course, I can’t leave the blog titled “The Cost of Chemotherapy” without talking about the bill. In 1976, I bought my first house for $40,500. A long time ago for some of you young folks, but, yes, they did have indoor toilets back then. As a comparison, the one hour of Melphalan that I received cost $48,000. This is, of course, before the negotiated rate that the insurance company receives, but you have to wonder what a drug dealer could do with this stuff. Not sure I could afford to become addicted for more than one reason.
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