Selena just finished her second chemotherapy treatment. She took it very well with no reactions during infusion. Thank God.
Chemo takes a long time. We were there almost 4 hours. We arrived at 11:50 AM and left a little before 4:00 PM. We found out that they don't even order the medicine until you are checked in by the nurse and cleared for chemo for that day. The reason they wait is because if a patient does not show up or shows up sick the medication would be wasted. Her treatment is about $4000 a session. There are some chemo treatments that run $30,000 a treatment! That would be a big waste of money that either the patient or UTMB would have to pay for. No one can afford that kind of waste.
After the patient is cleared, it takes at least an hour and many times more than an hour to get the medicine from the main pharmacy at the hospital. We go to an outpatient facility called the Infusion Center which is not connected to the hospital so a drug runner has to bring it over to the facility. Most of the time the drug runners are from Columbia, Guatamala or El Salvador. The nurses refer to them as 'mules.'
(Just kidding. They are pharmacy assistants.)
Selena is in bed right now. The 'chemo fog' is setting in. I will post more later this evening. I need to go pick up some medicine and do some grocery shopping. Mum is going to watch over her diligently to make sure she drinks a lot of fluids so she doesn't 'burn' her bladder with the Cyclophosphomide and Doxarubicin.
Chris
1 comment:
Never know quite where to comment so just look for a place with zero and hit it up. Ugh, Island food, it's tasty but tends to be sweet. No spice at all. I have found that true through the islands, Central and S. America. I carry my own hot sauce anyway. Ummm, can't remember what I logged on to say. Half a tic. I've saved and will backtrack to see if I can figure it out.
Oh yes, I started to cry when I read about you having to push fluids to keep from burning your bladder, among other things. I don't forget but you know how I can distance. I sometimes forget I can do that. I'm not trying to make light, just trying to lighten.
Anyway, love you and think of you all the time.
Be well.
Joel
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