I came. I saw. I kicked the bitch’s ass.
Or rather, my doctor, the treatment, and my super-powered/hyper-aggressive/attack-everything-it-sees immune system did.
*punches air* *stomps on Betty’s remains* *dances over her dying corpse*
Okay, enough hyperbole. Here’s what really happened, the good news and the bad…
I lost.
This can only be my fault. At lunch yesterday, while talking about how much Betty sucks, I said something along the lines of, “So far, the side effects haven’t been too bad. Pretty much anything has been better than having my face partially paralyzed.”
Unknown to me, Betty said, “Challenge accepted, bitch.”
At this point, I don’t know whether it’s an intestinal virus or side effects that are causing my distress, but I am distressed. I was supposed to have my last ippi/nivo treatment today, and it didn’t happen. Doc wants to be very cautious since colitis is a possible, serious side effect (most likely caused by the ippi).
So I wait. I’m tentatively scheduled to make up my treatment on Thursday, but that will depend on how things go tomorrow. It’s possible treatment could be pushed to next week, or that I’ll end up skipping this last one.
I am distressed. I am displeased. And I am disgusted. Because ugh.
The Summary.
The first batch of Kill Betty Juice has been administered. My ear is leaking. Again.
The Details.
We were GO for the study yesterday, and I received my first set of infusions. It took… long. Nivo takes 1 hour, then there’s a half hour saline flush, then Ippi takes 1.5 hours. We arrived at the infusion center at 2:30, it took until 3:30 for the drugs to arrive, and I didn’t get removed from the IV until a little after 7 p.m. So much our worrying about hitting rush hour traffic on the way home.
No side effects yet, which is normal. But my ear is acting up.
On the way home (about two hours after the infusions ended because we had dinner before heading out), I started experiencing horrible nerve pain in my ear. When I woke up this morning, my ear was clogged and more fluid was leaking out (and still is). I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but I’m waiting to hear back from the surgeon who treated the infection in April and the research nurse just in case. At least the pain is gone again for now.
Scream with: Gah!
That’s right. Assuming nothing funky shows up in my tests next week, I’m going to be a lab rat in the clinical trial.
First, I have to prove I can run a maze of blood tests, get an EKG, and suffer through a brain MRI. And, you know, sign a very long consent form that lists all the myriad ways these drugs are going to screw me up. I think the tests are just about establishing baselines (and proving I’m not pregnant), so I’m not too worried.