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Archive for May, 2008

Chemotherapy Side Effects

A play by play explanation

(This article is by Wes Clark, my guy and cancer survivor. This article was written when he was diagnosed a few years ago - after chemo and surgery, he has been cancer free for two years now; I’ve merely cleaned it up for spelling and grammar).

The Cancer I have is Germ Cell Cancer in my mediastinum which is in my chest, behind my breastbone. The tumour was discovered as one large mass although it is actually comprised of multiple tumour types. Any tumour over a certain size (and I’m not sure what that size is) is comprised of multiple forms of the same cancer.

100_0227.jpgAs of now, Sept. 5 2005 - I personally believe the tumour is dead. This type of cancer creates tumours that give off hormones, or what they call ‘Tumour Markers’. They are identical to the hormones released in a woman during pregnancy - so I can accurately say, “I’ve been pregnant”. My boobies didn’t grow though :(.
Those two hormones are referred to as AFP (Alpha Fetal Protein) and hCG. My AFP Levels pre-treatment were 3496 and hCG was 356. Ridiculously high tumour marker levels. I would have tested positive on any pregnancy test. After only one session they dropped to approximately 1000 and 100 respectively. Before Session 3 the hCG was immeasurably low or non-existent and AFP was at 40. Normal for a male is less than 10.

The standard treatment is 4 Sessions of Chemotherapy. Each Session is 3 weeks in total. In week 1, I get 5 hours of injections through an IV for 5 days (Monday to Friday). In Week Two I get a single injection, in week three I get a single injection and an end-of-week x-ray plus full blood tests to track the progress of that Session.

I also get a blood test every Monday. Every Monday I also receive a Bleomycin injection. In the first week everyday I receive Etoposide and Cisplatin (which is platinum). The total amount varies from person to person and is based on the doctors assessment plus their total body surface area. Mine is approximately 2 square meters which is kind of large. I receive Dexamethazone (a steroid) and Granisitron (anti-emetic drug to prevent nausea) everyday I receive Cisplatin and for an additional three days after receiving my last cisplatin injection. That’s a lot of drugs!

I also get severely constipated from the injections so I have a stool softener and ‘Senecal’ - a laxative to take as needed. The Cisplatin attacks fast growing cells in my entire body, so it causes nausea (although I haven’t had nausea with one exception) and can cause diarrhea (which I’ve had) from degrading the intestinal lining. That’s right, it both constipates me and makes me shit liquid.

I was also receiving Stimitil (prochlorperizine), another anti-emetic drug. I had a side effect that I really disliked (lock-jaw) and had experienced no nausea at all - so that drug was discontinued.

Out of all of these drugs, the number of side effects you could experience are phenomenal. Just to give you an idea, Stimitil alone has a list of 16 known side-effects categorized by how common or likely they are to be experienced. Lock Jaw, which I experienced - isn’t listed. Although similar side effects are.

Generally speaking, that is — talking about my own experiences going through chemotherapy verses what you would experience going through chemotherapy on the same drugs and same treatment schedule isn’t going to lay it all out for you. If anything you will have a very different experience depending on:

  • The randomness of drug interaction with you personally
  • The exact drugs and quantities of drugs you’ll be on
  • How well you react to those drugs

Unfortunately Chemotherapy and how exactly it will affect you is a big unknown. The bottom line is a) Germ Cell Cancer is highly treatable compared to other forms of cancer and b) If you’re prepared to experience what I’ve experienced, you’ll be on the right track when instead you experience something slightly different or who knows, maybe you’ll win the lottery and go through my experience to the letter. :)

Generally speaking I’ve had a ridiculously easy time with Cancer, but here’s a time line of the side-effects I’ve personally experienced:

Session 1:

  • Tired at random, but less tired than before beginning Chemo - the Hormones were really fucking with me pre-treatment
  • Unbelievable appetite, food tasted incredible
  • Horrible taste in my mouth from Cisplatin, I know what platinum tastes like.
  • Bleomycin made my phlegm taste like plastic for a couple days after injection
  • Constipation - I was constipated before treatment and during. The laxatives really came in handy.
  • Slightly Confused after: Bleomycin injections on Monday.
  • Lock Jaw: Result of Stimitil. I would be talking and then have to stop, move my jaw around so I could remember how to use it and begin talking again.
  • Pain in my ribs - I would wake up with serious pain in my ribs, more than likely not a drug side-effect but a result of the tumour shrinking in my chest. Pain disappeared within 20 seconds
  • Tingling in my testicles - Dexamethazone when injected and when I took the pills appeared to cause a really mild version of ‘blue-balls’ lasting for 5 to 10 minutes. Did not always cause this, appeared to occur randomly.
  • Hair-Loss: Lost my pubic hair first Sunday after the solid first week of injections. Hair on my head began falling out the following Monday night. Hair left on head was easy to pull out, but felt like bristles in my head when touched.
  • Red Face - Dexamethazone caused my face to look red
  • Mood Swings - Dexamethazone plus who knows what else caused me to have severe mood swings at random. At first I thought I was mad for valid reasons but later learned to spot when the mood swings were drug induced
  • Pressure in my chest - report any pressure in your own chest to your doctor, but with me the tumour shrinking could be felt. It just felt like someone lightly pressing on my breast-bone.
  • Sleeplessness from Dexamethazone
  • Pimple break-outs that would go away before end of session

Session 2:

  • Tired at Random, particularly on Saturday and Sunday the weekend before the end of session
  • Unbelievable Appetite, food tasted incredible
  • Cisplatin caused gross platinum taste in my mouth
  • Bleomycin made my phlegm taste like plastic
  • Constipation
  • Severe Diarrhea - I was told to take Immodium and the initial dose solved the problem immediately
  • Hip Pain: I experienced pain in both hips, symmetrically for one day. It just came on and then disappeared. Had trouble walking, only took an Extra Strength Tylenol to relieve the pain.
  • Less frequent and less severe rib pain disappearing quickly
  • A Bruise Appeared on my left index finger middle-knuckle. It actually appeared to be two bruises side by side. The bruises turned into a hardened callus. My doctor could not explain it, I don’t remember hurting my hand at all.
  • Mood swings became shorter lived - I could get angry or cry but only for 5 to 10 seconds before realizing I wasn’t really angry or sad. Started warning people after a 5 second outburst that I was angry from the drugs and I needed another couple minutes to calm down. This worked well to preserve my relationships.
  • Sleeplessness from Dexamethazone
  • Severe fever of 39.4 three hours after second Bleomycin injection, two extra strength Tylenol cured the fever

Session 3:

  • Confusion after Bleomycin Injections.
  • Sleeplessness from Dexamethazone
  • Unbelievable appetite
  • Bad taste was less severe after Cisplatin and Bleomycin
  • Mood Swings from Dexamethasone were very easy to recognize and for the most part were much less frequent. Crying for only a couple seconds at a time was common, but I often cried over things I liked such as ‘little acorns’ by the white stripes or when I heard ‘don’t fear the reaper’.
  • Pressure on my chest more severe plus a very strange feeling of ‘bubbling’. An image of a piece of coral rock with bubbles coming out of it and chunks breaking off kept going through my head, over and over the Monday after my solid week of injections. Could not sleep. Really grossed me out - woke up with …
  • Pain in my ankles - turned into …
  • Severe pain in my knees, plus lighter pain in my elbows, ankles and wrists. Explained to be gout-like-symptoms as a result of tumour break-up. A very good sign, but the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. Had to take Neproxin, Prednasone and Perkocets for a full day and a half. Pain recurred less severe in small amounts at later days.
  • Pimple Break-Outs
  • Painful Thumb-Nails: For the first time, both my thumb-nails feel bruised like I hit them with a hammer or something. No other fingers hurt - no visible bruises.
  • Perkocets [oxycocet]
    • Don’t believe the hype! Perkocets were fun for about two hours, then they made me severely emotional and I felt genuinely depressed while on them and for a full day after I discontinued taking them. I cried a lot. The next day - felt fine.
    • The combination of Perkocets, Prednasone and Neproxin — or maybe just one of them, made me vomit what must have been at least five litres of liquid and chinese food noodles I had been acquiring for the entire day I was on these new anti-gout-like-symptom drugs.
  • Severe Tiredness: The weekend before my last week of this session (which is where I am as of writing this)

I hope I didn’t miss any, but this staggering list of side-effects are written by someone that feels they’ve had a really really easy time with Chemotherapy. That’s the truth, almost nothing on this list with the exception of what I’ve endured this session was really even a big distraction to my life. I’ve had the chance to do tonnes of things I couldn’t do working a 9 to 5 and I got to combat the bad taste in my mouth by eating. How awesome is that? Be like the squirrel girl, be like the squirrel.

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Posted: May 11th, 2008 under Cancer.
Comments: none

How to Make a Smoke Bomb

Resurrected from the Pretty Bored Archives, here is the ever popular article on how to make a smoke bomb by Wes Clark.

Alright, this isn’t really something that goes “BOOM!” but it’s still my favourite chemical mixture ever. Plus it works well for both military and ‘i want to be a pain in the ass’ uses. It’s the oldest Smoke Bomb Mixture ever.

Ingredients
Salt Peter (more on this later)
Icing Sugar

that’s it! You can add other shit too if you wish to, but this is the essential mixture. Firstly, Salt Peter is an over-the-counter drug like that new Prilosec O.T.C. shit they’re selling. You see, O.T.C. is a fancy acronym meaning, “Over the counter”. I know what you’re thinking - who gives a shit? Tell that to Prilosec.

That means you can buy it anywhere, problem is most of you anarchist retards are kids - and Salt Peter is sold at drug stores specifically for the purpose of making people lose their sex drive. That’s right, Salt Peter is the same crap your parents fed you as a child to stop you from masturbating so fucking much. Makes you feel really gross ; trust me.

So it might seem a little strange when you go in their to buy it and have to explain, “My parents told me to pick it up”. Just say it anyways, I always used to, and it’s hilarious to see them try not to smirk when they believe you’re buying it for yourself and you have no idea what you’re getting in to.

Also it’s more likely they’ll sell it to your geeky chronic masturbating ass if they think that’s what it’s for. Believe me.

Salt Peter is the main ingredient in Gun Powder. It’s highly flammable, but not explosive. It’s not easily ignited by sparks or pressure, but it is very easy to light on fire with a flame. That means it’s not too dangerous to work with on its own.

The next ingredient, Sugar - just burns really dirty. It gives off a thick white smoke, and the more fine your sugar is, the better it will smoke. E.g. Get icing sugar, although you could use any type of sugar you want.

Mix the two 1:1. If you’re going to mix in anything else, make sure you split that with the sugar. e.g. with Salt Peter, Sugar, Crushed Charcoal as an ingredient list - you would mix them respectively at 2:1:1. If that doesn’t make sense, you’re too young to be making smoke bombs. Charcoal gives off a black smoke that is harder to see through, but sugar and salt peter alone give off a smoke very close to CounterStrike’s animated army-smoke-bombs.

These bastards are great for paintball if you want to smoke someone out of a fort, direct their attention away from you (If they think you’re stupid enough to light up a smoke bomb where you are), to mark an area or to obfuscate the infamous prized ‘package’ you need to recover.

Word to the wise: One time I bought a small bottle of salt peter, mixed it 50:50 with icing sugar (giving me twice as much material) and managed to pack 4/5ths of all the crap I made back into the same bottle. Then I drilled a hole in the lid and stuck a small party-sparkler in there as a wick. this wasn’t a good idea ; the only escape for the hot gases was the tiny hole I drilled for the wick. This small bottle must have weighed about 7 pounds, and it shot off like a rocket.

Before you say, “AWESOME!” it wasn’t. It was really dangerous, and I was only stupid enough to do it once. If I had done it wrong it was very possible that I could have made a less-powerful than average pipe-bomb and lost my fucking face lighting it up.

Canister:

My recommendation is, if you want a smoke bomb that looks like a military canister do the following:

Use the bottle the salt peter came in, or for a real tough-steel canister use a pop-can or one of those middle-east juice cans with the super thick steel. You’ll have to cut your own top for it though and find a way to fasten it to the can (tape or solder will just burn away on ignition, but if that’s ok, go ahead)

Drill *many* holes in the top, with a fairly large drill bit (1/4 inch or so).

The best top on a plastic bottle would be if you were to drill almost the entire center out of the top, and put in a circular piece of metal with the holes drilled in to it. It’s more work, but the holes will not melt together on you causing a weird reaction.

Cut a circular piece of paper out to fit within the lid, and cover the holes from the inside once it’s screwed back on. Then when you pack in the salt-peter: sugar mixture you can pack it tight, but leave at least a 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch at the top of AIR. (AIR is very important for this to work, the mixture needs a lot of air to burn properly.

Then shove a party sparkler (the small ones) through the hole you drilled in the centre of the lid, through the paper, right into the smoke bomb mixture.

When you want to light it up, light the sparkler and you can throw it anywhere (except in water) since sparklers burn strong enough to not be put out by wind or bouncing off the ground.

WARNING: Don’t be a total moron and light this indoors either. The mixture burns very hot, and the plastic bottle will melt. If you find some sort of steel canister to place this in, it will turn red hot and no matter what it is in, extremely hot gases (enough to light hardwood floor on fire) will be coming out of the thing. If you want to burn this indoors you might as well just throw a Molotov cocktail at someones face, because you will hurt people and destroy the building.

If you decide to make your little smoke-bomb out of a plastic container, don’t inhale the smoke! You shouldn’t anyways, but be aware of just what you or your buddies will be inhaling. Burning plastic gives you hermaphrodite children, and that sucks.

I take zero responsibility for you making this, I’ve made them and I had fun with them ; but they require real intelligence to make and use safely. If you hurt yourself, you hurt yourself.

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Posted: May 11th, 2008 under Anarchy.
Comments: none

Five Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Commute

With the recent rise in gas prices, many people are reevaluating their career choices. A couple of nights ago I had the chance to speak with an HR professional who said that she had a lot of people applying at her company because they preferred to work locally rather than commute for 10.00 an hour positions.

A lot of people are casting around for justifications to change jobs right now in order to go local. Rising gas prices are certainly a good reason, but here are five more.

commute.jpg

1. It’s The Environment, Stupid
I commuted for a year and a few months to a company that was 50 kilometres away from my house. Each day I was contributing 100K worth of diesel fumes to the environment. That wasn’t cool, and it was one of the main reasons that I left. My somewhat hippie mindset just couldn’t deal with the fact that I was crapping all over the earth just with the simple act of going to and from work every day. Even if you don’t see yourself as a hippie, global warming hopefully concerns you at least a little bit - very good reason to not commute.

2. Family Time
For me family time involves scratching my navel and petting my cat. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t need that time to stay mentally healthy (or at least keep from sliding into total insanity - that’s a little closer to the mark). For most others, family time is a little more serious and involves spending time with their children and teaching them how to live life and grow. If you sacrifice 2 extra hours of your life a day, you may want to think twice about the repercussions that this is having on your mate and children. Not that you should feel guilty, we all have to make a living, but it is definitely a good reason to quit the commute.

3. Health
If you are commuting, you generally don’t have time to hit the gym. I was smart about this and went right after work to a gym where I worked out for about an hour each day until traffic let up, then I zoomed home. However, most people with families need every second they can squeeze out of a day and don’t have time to do this. The stress alone of commuting every day and the lack of Vitamin D, which has been proven to be a major factor in getting cancer, should be enough reason to reconsider.

4. Local Salaries Don’t Suck
As more companies try to attract skilled employees, local salaries are rising. Clerical and administrative jobs are always going to be low-end on the pay scale, but if you have any skills at all over and above the usual Microsoft Office and Accpac, you may find that your pay cut will not be so deep to stay local. Before I made the decision to work from home, I was going for interviews locally that were only fractionally less than what I was making an hour away. Get your resume polished up by a more word-savvy friend and start shooting them out before you leave your current job - you never know what will happen.

5. Me Time
By the end of the day, most people just fall into bed without doing little things for themselves like reading a book, taking a nice bath, or just having some down time watching the TV. Whatever you enjoy doing, if you don’t put aside the time to do it, you won’t recharge your batteries. You have to put aside time to enjoy life, and that is almost impossible to do if you are working 6 to 6.