Fighting Breast Cancer

Because I had so much trouble with nausea after my first round of chemo, Dr. N prescribed a very powerful anti-nausea drug called Emend.  I consider Emend to be a “miracle drug”.  It is taken in the form of three pills over three days, starting one hour before chemotherapy.  The problem is that it costs about $110 per pill.  Sounds expensive?  Try being chemo-sick instead.  I mean, it is definitely expensive; but when your choices are “feel-like-you-are-going-through-chemo” or “feel-just-fine”, you realize how just how cheap $100 is.  If it cost a week’s salary and I didn’t have to feel chemo-ill that week- it’s worth it.

An hour after I took my first dose of Emend, I was called into the Out Patient IV room.  I chose my chair and waited for the chemo nurse to start my IV of “pre-meds”.  When the time came, she handed me a glass filled with ice to chew on and pushed the red chemo into my veins.  Once again, I felt a little dizzy and heady from the chemo.  I don’t know if it was the Emend or the fact that I was becoming an “old pro” at this chemo game, but I seemed to be so much more calm this time around.  In fact, considering the circumstances, I felt great.

When the nurse pulled the needle from my vein, she asked me how I felt. 

I thought about her queston carefully.  I felt pretty good actually.  A little light-headed, maybe but fine.  In fact I felt a bit hungry.

“I feel….I feel like eating a pizza.”

“Oh, no.  You shouldn’t eat anything right now.  Pizza would be hard on your stomach!  You’ll regret it if you eat that,” she assured me.

“No! That’s what I want and that’s what I’ll have.  Let’s go,”  I corrected.

We stopped at Nello’s Pizza restaurant on the way home from the hospital.  I ate 2 pieces and didn’t throw-up one time.  I didn’t experience any “stomach problems” as the nurse had warned.  This is why Emend is a miracle drug; I can eat pizza 30 miutes after chemo. I had the spinach pizza; it was awesome. 

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