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Side Effects

Side Effects
Boooop!

It's been a weekend since I received the news that I needed more chemo instead of radiation, and I've had some time to ruminate on the implications. True, I'll be stuck in Berlin for another month and now I'll have to coordinate transferring my care back home for when my visa expires. On the other hand, I'll get to experience German Christmas markets for one more season and I can watch the American elections results with an ocean of separation.

In retrospect there have been a lot of signs that the initial ABVD chemotherapy regimen wasn't performing as strongly as it should have been. Let's break it down by side effect.

All side effects retrieved from the American National Cancer Institute: https://ctep.cancer.gov/protocolDevelopment/docs/regimes/SideEffects-ABVD.docx

Common, Some May Be Serious

between 20%-100% of patients experience this

  • High blood pressure - Nope
  • Infection due to lowered white blood cell count - Nope, but I was given an antiviral and antibacterial prescription to boost my body
  • Anemia - Yup, my blood count was decimated
  • Bruising - Nope
  • Sores in mouth or throat - Nope
  • Muscle weakness - Nope
  • Pain in the bones/jaw/tumour - Nope
  • Fever/chills within 3-6 hours after administration - Nope
  • Tiredness - Yes, I had to do a lot of fatigue management. Midday naps became common
  • changes to skin/skin colour - Nope
  • Hair loss - Only from the top of my head. The rest of me remained a sasquatch
A dramatized depiction of me in Berlin, covered in hair
Photo by Jon Sailer / Unsplash

Score: 3.5/11. I'm giving half a point to the prescription medication to fortifying my body so we don't know if I would have gotten infected either way.

Occasional, Some May Be Serious

between 4%-20% of patients experience this

  • Heart failure - Nope
  • Abnormal heartbeat - Nope
  • Seizure - Nope
  • Blood clots - Nope
  • Brain swelling - Nope
  • Lung damage/scarring - Nope
  • Kidney damage - Nope
  • Blood in urine - Eww, and nope
  • Sores in digestive tract - Nope
  • Diarrhea/dehydration/belly pain - Nope
  • Rashes/skin swelling - Nope
  • Abnormal menstrual period or early menopause - I asked my partner. She said that she was unaffected.
  • Depression - No observable variance
  • Numbness and tingling in fingers or toes - Yes, only when in cold environments (like coming out of the shower)
  • Confusion - What?
  • Headache - Nope
  • Weight loss - I gained weight. I blame my mother and her attentive care and steady supply of waffles for this.
  • Flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, body aches, and muscle pain - My partner got the flu while I had chemo. Maybe it's transitive, like how she gets hangovers when I drink heavily.

Score: 1/18. I tied with my partner in this section. Maybe she's the one getting chemo?

Rare, and Serious

fewer than 3% of patients experience this

  • Stroke - My playlist has been adding more of the Strokes in it lately 🤔
  • Damage to liver - Nope. In fact I've had to stop drinking so I wonder if it is taking the opportunity to rest and heal.
  • Difficulty in hearing and balance - Nope
  • Leukemia - Oh dear I hope not
  • Increased risk of sunburn - This is Berlin. At best we hope for a break between the clouds.

Score: 0/5. Thank goodness.

In the end I got 4.5/34 on the side effects list, and my tumour is still present. Makes sense that the doctors want to try something a bit more intense on the next go-around. Hopefully those side effects aren't too serious.

...well then