Wednesday, July 31, 2013

First IP Chemo

Today I had my first treatment of intraperitoneal Chemo which means it goes directly into the port in my abdomen and into the abdominal cavity.  Before they do it though they run fluids in my IV through the port in my chest for 2 hours, then they give me fluids and Chemo at the same time for an hour and then more fluids for 2 hours after the Chemo.  The reason they have to do this is because the Chemo is toxic to the kidneys and they want me to be well hydrated so that I don't go into kidney failure.  The funny thing is I am thirsty and even more so after my evening walk.  During the chemo I have to roll from one side to the other every 15 minutes.  It went by rather quickly again today because I slept for half the time.  I feel rather bloated and swollen, but not really sick which is good.  Let's hope I feel good the next few days, but I know I'll be down for a few days because of the fatigue.  I also get fluids again tomorrow and maybe Friday.
THE GOOD NEWS:   I got a call from Dr. Dan's nurse (Dr. Dan is my chemo dr.)  who reported that my CA 125 the ovarian cancer tumor marker is NORMAL!!!!  Normal is below 30 and mine from my blood draw yesterday is 27!  When I was diagnosed mine was 239.  I still have to finish the chemo to make sure we get rid of all of the microscopic cells, but this is fabulous and very reassuring news!
THE BAD NEWS:  I found out yesterday that my insurance goes from July to July, which means I have to pay my max out of pocket total of $11,500 for my treatment in June and it started all over again in July.  This is very frustrating, but I'm hoping that I will get a little help from the hospital.  We shall see.  At least I am grateful that I have the funds to pay for it.  Probably what will happen is that I will pay the first one this year and then start paying the second one when I start working again in January.

2 comments:

  1. WOW 27 that is so great, that makes everyone happy!!! Don't worry about the insurance it will work out!! Can't you get cobra? Gordon got it from my work when I lost my insurance. You are allowed to have it for 18 months!

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