Everolimus

I hate the word 'journey' applied to cancer. For me a 'journey' is a joyous affair. It's new adventures, new people, new sights, new excitements. You certainly can't say that about what you have to deal with during the so called 'cancer journey'.

To begin with, the BIG C word puts the fear of death into you. Then, the impersonality and intrusiveness of the tests and procedures demean you. Later the chemo and radiation fry your body and mind, until you don't really care what's happening, because you are pretty 'brainless' which means you shut down emotionally. These things happen to someone else, NOT ME! Then, you are told you are free. You are clear and you can get on with your life. Whoopee! Only to be told a few years later that, no, the cancer is back. Darn it! And the cycle of depersonalisation and recovery repeats itself ad nauseam.

I don't know if it's just me, but every time I am on the upswing I forget about the downturn. When things don't go too well, I am surprised. Surely, after 8 years on this roller coaster ride I should take things in stride. I decided to do just that with this new Everolimus.

So, I made the decision to wait for the first instalment until Monday.  My rationalisation was to make sure the hospital was fully staffed (as opposed to the weekends) in case I have a nasty side effect. The pill has to be taken on an empty stomach, but I have another pill that has to be taken on an empty stomach, so my pharmacist and I worked out how to deal with that. Take the old pill first and then the new one two hours after breakfast. Worked like a charm, except that I was hitting my bed almost the whole day, I was so tired and 'brainless'. Reminded me of the cyclophosphamide that made me feel the same way for about 6-8 hours of the day.

I can't function like this, I told myself, and made another proactive decision: to take the second pill at night. This way I would be tired and debilitated while I was asleep. I am happy to report that I felt fine the whole day (except for the pain in my left leg from not walking around enough). I am just about to have dinner and wait the required 2-3 hours to take Everolimus as a night time medication. I will report in a few days how this experiment had worked out.