MDS Treatment - Day 1

MDS Treatment - Day 1

Your Vidaza injections may:

• make you tired
• give you diarrhea
• make you nauseous and cause vomiting

The anti-nausea medication may:

• make you sleepy
• cause constipation

The prednisone already:

• makes you hyper
• makes you lose focus
• causes your energy to crash unexpectedly
• gives you indigestion
• requires two medications to counteract the indigestion

Is this going to be fun or what?

I spend Monday morning becoming increasingly nervous. A distraction is in order, so I drive to the range to hit golf balls. "You ought to hit something," someone had said by e-mail.

I haven't done any exercise in five weeks. And, look: the damned steroids haven't added even one yard to my drives. Pass the HGH, please. Well, at least this distracts me.

After lunch, Penny drives me to the doctor. Two shots, one in each arm.

"Your arms might get red and a little sore," the doc says.

The shots are no big deal. And, oh by the way, here's a prescription for anti-nausea medication, although you might not have that reaction.

Home again.
3 o'clock - feeling okay
4 o'clock - feeling tired
5 o'clock - is that wooziness?
5:15 - better take a pill
5:30 - uh-oh
5:45 - thar she blows! Nothing like projectile vomiting for excitement

Now a vital question: since I tossed after taking the pill, can I take another?

"No," says the pharmacist, "there's still medication in your system. Wait til bed time."

"Yes," says the doctor, "it's okay to take more. And, oh-by-the-way, you're supposed to take that an hour before the shots, not wait til you're feeling bad."

Wish somebody had told me that.