One Down (sort of), Thirteen to Go

Yesterday was the start of the whole new MOPP! thing, which Barb has found is officially called ChlVPP for my specific protocol. Still, MOPP! is easier and more fun to say. I got the vinblastine earlier today, which primarily seems to have affected my joints. I’ve been quite achy through the day. Before bedtime, I got to take my two chemo drugs – one a set of six pills, the other a set of four. The one that I take four of (procarbazine) had a copay of $2600. Nice, huh? Fortunately, my deductible’s already been reached, so my copays get refunded to me in a couple of weeks, so all this means other than sticker shock is we get a few more frequent flier miles. Go go gadget credit card!

Now’s the point where you might be wondering why I’m up and writing at four in the morning. To put it simply, MOPP! sucks. Through all of the chemo they’ve put me through for almost a year, I’ve never thrown up. This morning I’ve puked three times and can feel another in the wings. In fact, I just blazed through numbers four and five between the last sentence and this one, Wonderful.

Here’s a note to all of you who will either go through MOPP! or are having nausea issues with anything else: don’t eat pasta with tomato sauce. It’s quite disturbing to see later on.

Well, I’m feeling that feeling again, so I’d better post this while I’m still relatively coherent. Let’s hear it for number six!