C is for Chemotherapy

All this while, I've heard and read of stories about chemotheraphy. The most being that you'll go bald after several treatments. Well, to tell you the truth, going bald is the least of my worry. So what if I am bald? I'm more concern about it causing patients to have low immunity, nausea, diarrhea, nerve damage or fatigue. After all, I've instructed E-Ya to buy me special head covering just in case I do go bald. You can see what it is at the end of this entry. Tunggu .....

Actually before one can have chemo, the person has to have their blood checked first to make sure that the red cells as well as the white ones are adequate to withstand chemo. Luckily mine was Ok and I was scheduled to have my first chemo the very next day.

The night before my chemo a nurse came into my room and told me to take my medication needed for chemo. I was flabbergasted to find I have to finish off a total of 45 pills! As usual I was not told what the pills were and what they're for. The nurse went off before I could even open my mouth to ask. The only thing she said was that I have to take the same dosage twice, one tonight and another next morning.

Next morning after gulping down the pills (I need at least 5 glasses of water to do that), I waited for the doctor to come and administer my chemo. At that time I was alone as no relative was allowed to be with me during treatment. However, till noon no sight of a doctor or nurse was to be seen. I was feeling restless by then and kept looking at the clock on the wall.

Nak dijadikan citer, haritu the whole ward Berlian tak de electricity pulak. There seem to be some kind of electrical problem and the whole ward was in darkness except for a few emergency lights. My room was no exception. Since morning I can see technicians working around the clock trying to rectify the problem. I sort of can sense that this is not a good sign. Amboi amboi amboi... mcm nujum Pak Blalanglah pulok!

At last around 4.30 pm, a nurse by the name of Kismah came into my room. A very nice lady. I've meet her a few occasions before when I had my appointment with the gynae-oncology specialist, Dr. Suguna. That day, she wore a plastic covering kinda of clothing, with hand gloves and all. She even had a face mask on. To me she looked like someone who is about to take a sample of alien specimen! I asked why she's dressed like that she said, "Kak, tiap-tiap hari kerja saya bg org chemo, jd saya kenalah protect diri saya". To that I said, "Ohhh..."

With a portable emergency light she prepares my medication. She explained to me some of the side effects that I might get. Firstly she injected some saline solution through my IV port and then some steroidal solution saying that it is to control nauseaness and itchiness. Shortly after that she said,"O.K kak. Saya dah nak masukkan ubat chemo sekarang ni".

At that moment I can actually feel the medication running through the veins in my body, straight down to my stomach. It was that fast I tell you!. Then the unexpected happened...

After about 20 drops was administered, my head was suddenly spinning. At the same time I had breathing difficulty, and my face felt like its goin to burst. I called out to nurse Kismah saying, "Dik, kenapa akak tiba-tiba tak leh bernafas ni dik? Kulit muka akakpun rasa terik. Kenapa ni?" Nurse Kismah naturally panickedlah when she heard that. Dahlah bilik tu agak gelap and now here I am saying that I can hardly breathe. Sapa tak takut?

She called out to the other nurses to go call the doctor on duty. She immediately stopped the chemo and inserted saline solution in replace. I was conscious but practically gasping for air, turning my head from right to left. I was also feeling dizzy and nauseous at the same time. Two doctors together with several nurses came into my room and gathered around me. One of the doctor quickly put me on oxygen while the other called my name, making sure that I remain conscious. I also heard somebody saying, "Muka dah bengkak tu". They then took my pulse rate which was already racing and blood pressure that had skyrocketed. I guess my condition at that time worried the doctors as they thought I had a heart attack.

I was in this condition for about twenty minutes, before stabilized. I thanked God the alMighty when I finally could breathe comfortably, altho' the oxygen mask was still on. Phew ..., what an experience ! Bak kata Mawi "WORLD!"

Half an hour later, I was off the oxygen. My pulse and blood pressure was also back to normal. Seeing that I was already out of danger, the doctors as well as the other nurses left the room. Then two nurses came back with them an electrocardiogram machine (ECG). This time they wanted to make sure that my heart is really OK and the result showed that it was.

Nurse Kismah came back into the room and I asked her why that incident happened to me. She told me it was probably because I was allergic to the medication. She also said I was her first patient to develop allergies at such speed, after only fifteen minutes of treatment. She then told me that she had to stop the chemo for today and talked to Dr. Suguna for further actions. I then got news I was rescheduled for another try of chemo next week.

FIY there are several kinds of medication for chemo. Mine used was Paclitaxel or more commonly known as Taxol. It costs me over RM 600 and to make matters worst, it can only be used within 1 week. This means that if my chemo next week also fails, that medication will go to waste! Nasib baik doctor tak suruh aku beli ubat chemo lain yg harganya boleh mencecah sampai beribu-ribu RM. Ada yg RM 2000 dan yg sampai RM 6000 pun ada babe... The thought that I might loose that much RM would really instigate a heart attack! Hahahaha ...

While waiting for next week to come , I again asked the doctor to discharge me from hospital, and they obliged. This time around I have a whole week to be with my family. Hooray ...!

Oh ya, before I forget,

Ta daa... My headgear ...

Once again E-Ya said, "Bertebiat ke apa Acik ni?"