Ocean Water

Last week’s 50% dose of Vincristine hit Tate pretty hard.  Too hard.  His light and sound sensitivities increased almost immediately, and his head started to hurt again.  He didn’t feel that his nephropathy had been impacted much.  The Nurse Practitioner Angela decided to consult with his doctor before clearing him for chemotherapy this morning.  She considered whether it might be better to decrease the dose back to 25%.  Tate, who has proven he will endure anything to get better, said he was willing to get another 50% dose today and suggested they re-evaluate the dose next week.  Dr. Williams, the Oncologist, decided Tate needed to skip this dose of Vincristine altogether.  The last time Tate had larger doses of this drug he ended up in the hospital for 11 days, and they never want that to happen again.  The Nurse Practitioner said they were considering future consequences, not just the immediate side effects.  They do not want to cause permanent damage by giving him more of the drug than he can tolerate.

We look to the medical staff to make the best decisions for Tate.  The doctor is not concerned that skipping this dose will negatively influence the outcome of his treatment overall; he is more concerned Tate will suffer life-long effects if given too much.  Once again they are working a fine balance between treating his cancer and giving him the best chance at a quality life.

Today Tate got Doxorubicin through his port and the three Erwinia injections.

This is how the chemotherapy drugs are delivered to the clinic from the pharmacy.  Each drug goes in a separate bag, and PCH has a system where two nurses independently confirm the patient number on each drug matches Tate’s patient number.

This is Doxorubicin, the drug that will burn the skin on contact and turns bodily fluids such as tears, sweat, and urine red.

Weeks ago, during the corn dog phase, Tate was examining the menu at Sonic and muttered, “Why would someone ever name a drink ‘Ocean Water?’  Ocean water tastes disgusting.”  We had a good laugh; all of us have coughed up a mouthful of the salty, fishy stuff more than once.  Tate wanted to try it that day, but I told him he could get Ocean Water when his ANC was above 1000.  Today was that day.  It turns out Ocean Water is is a sweet, blue, carbonated drink with a confusing pina colada aftertaste.