round four of chemo ... not so bad

There's nothing like an uneventful morning in a chemotherapy cubicle to raise a gal's spirits. Seriously. My friend Lisa and I were there at 7 a.m., and when we left three hours later, it was more like we'd had a few hours to sit in comfy chairs, sip cups of hot tea, eat homemade banana bread, read the newspaper and chat. I didn't have any reactions to the Gemzar. (The last time I was in one of those infusion rooms, my blood pressure crashed, I broke out in hives and almost passed out — twice — and they had to take me off the drug and switch me to another one.) This afternoon, I'm a little tired, and I expect I'll feel a little fluey for a day or two, So far, so good, though. (Next week I go back for a double cocktail of Gemzar and Taxotere.) It sure beats carrying my chemo drugs around for seven days straight, having them flow continuously through my body all week, like I did for the last three cycles. Now all I can do is hope this works.

Check out this description of Taxotere, by the way:

Taxotere belongs to a class of chemotherapy drugs called plant alkaloids. Plant alkaloids are made from plants. The vinca alkaloids are made from the periwinkle plant (catharanthus rosea). The taxanes are made from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree (taxus). The vinca alkaloids and taxanes are also known as antimicrotubule agents. The podophyllotoxins are derived from the May apple plant. Camptothecan analogs are derived from the Asian "Happy Tree" (Camptotheca acuminata). Podophyllotoxins and camptothecan analogs are also known as topoisomerase inhibitors.

Periwinkle? May apple plant? Asian Happy Tree? What is this, chemo by Aveda?