From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers, or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…
When my wife began
her chemotherapy in 2014, we knew she was going in for the most aggressive treatment.
The first day, we checked in, and after the nurses “hooked her up”, they added
a Benadryl drip.
We all know that
Benadryl is supposed to dampen an allergic reaction, but what was it supposed
to do during chemo? Here’s what I found: “Diphenhydramine works by blocking the action of histamine, a
substance in the body that causes allergy-type symptoms. It has also been found
to be slightly effective against the nausea and vomiting that can be caused by chemotherapy and/or help
prevent side effects from other anti-nausea medications.”
So, in order to
reduce nausea, they gave her Benadryl. Cool.
The effect in HER,
however overshadowed any possible lessening of the nausea. Her legs began to
wildly spasm – a sort of “SUPER-restless-leg-syndrome” (Which see here: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2017/03/encore-58-dealing-with-restless-limb.html).
So what does this
(thankfully!) long-past reaction have to do with today?
Rashes. She’s
discovered that she gets hives on her head and chest. It’s a reaction that
actually has a name: Sun Allergy (http://www.health.harvard.edu/allergies/sun-allergy-photosensitivity)
Chemo drugs – in fact
ANY drug – can cause some form of photosensitivity.
“Photosensitivity is an
enhanced skin response to ultraviolet radiation (sunlight). There are three types of photosensitivity
reactions phototoxic, photoallergic and UV recall reaction. Phototoxic
reactions are common photosensitivity reactions and can be produced in most
individuals given a high enough dose of drug and sufficient light exposure. These
photosensitivity reactions are usually evident within 5-20 hours of exposure
and resembles an exaggerated sunburn (redness, swelling, blistering, weeping
and peeling). The rash is confined to
areas exposed to light. Drugs associated with these photosensitivity reactions
are dacarbazine, fluorouracil, methotrexate and vinblastine. Photoallergic
reactions are less common than phototoxic reactions. A photoallergic reaction is similar to a
phototoxic reaction but the reaction may spread beyond area's exposed to
light. A drug that may have this
photosensitivity reaction is flutamide.”
Do we KNOW this is
what happened? No. Does it seem possible? Yes. Maybe we can move forward from
here, eh – that is, “Just one MORE thing to think about post-cancer!” I DO know she won't be trying Benadryl this time!
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