Whatever you do, Clean Your Face after it's been on the restroom floor...

You know what you don’t want is to be on chemotherapy and you lose all your fluids while taking IV drugs. The irony. I started my second half of chemotherapy last Thursday. This time the drug culprits being the Adriamycin and Carbotaxen…AC. This combination is much harsher on the body than the original combo I started with. Side effects include discolored urine, kills my immune system, more fatigue than usual, heart issues that could either manifest themselves now or later, and a possibility of the cancer coming back in 7 to 10 years. Exciting, hunh!?!

So my escapade for the initial treatment resulted in me on the floor of the work restroom. The first time I had chemo, an allergic reaction happened. Remember…all the nurses on the floor were in my area trying to make sure that I wouldn’t suffocate or fall into anaphylaxis. Yeah, that was my initial ride with chemotherapy. Well, my first ride with changing drugs wasn’t without the drama. I managed to stave off the nausea and the other gastrointestinal issues. What I overlooked was the drug taking out all my fluids. I was working and mind you, I wasn’t moving around much. I was sitting on the Identification/susceptibilities bench at my job. I was preparing the first patients for the first round of IDs when I noticed that I was beginning to feel lightheaded. I got up to go to the restroom and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the floor of the restroom/dressing room. I was cognizant enough to call my sister and make the phone call to the Technologist Associates’ bench to let them know what was going on with me. I had no idea of what happened or more importantly WHY it happened. Dehydration wasn’t one of the side effects I was warned about. So it never occurred to me that regardless of how much water I drank, the Liquid IV packets I consumed, and the foods that promote hydration were eaten; I still managed to not replenish the fluids needed to process those drugs in a homeostatic existence.

My being on the floor triggered one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Not only was I almost helpless on that dirty ass floor, I think I relieved myself unknowingly. I had the 9-1-1 equivalent of the hospital’s emergency come to me on the third floor to take me to the ED.

PRO: if you ever need to go to the ED, make sure you work in the hospital. That way you can bypass the 8-hour wait and go straight into the room.

CON: You still are at the mercy of doctors and nurses taking their sweet ole time treating people.

What did I learn from this experience? It takes 3 liters of IV fluids including the fluids I drink to stay ahead of those drugs given to me. I also learned that no matter how much I tried to stay ahead of those drugs the issues compounded each time I had an infusion. The next two infusions after that one had me taking more days off than I wanted and diarrhea reared its ugly head on the third one. I also learned that once your clear, clean face has been exposed to that dirty ass floor, whatever acne problems you had reared their ugly heads as well. It took me a hot minute to get my face somewhat clear. I was so angry. You’d think the situation as a whole would be what pissed me off but no, it was messing up clear face. I lost my hair, my nails, lost my energy, hell lost my dignity of not urinating on myself in public. It was my face. The one thing I thought I could control was taken from me in that one moment.

Ain’t that something…