What a day! How should I start? … We woke up at 6AM and we went to the hospital to have the 5th chemo. Two weeks ago, when we went for the 4th dose there was a problem with one of the chemotherapy component (vinblastine). Today, there was no Vinblastine at all in the hospital, neither other hospitals, foundations, pharmacy, pharmaceuticals. Vinblastine Apocalipsis! There was not V in the whole country… Of course, we spent the whole morning looking for it, my both families too, alos the doctor and nurses. I don't need to say more; Vinblastine seems to be gone here. My doctor pointed out the following history fact:
In the past there was a Vinblastine crisis that lasted 2 years…
ಠ_ಠ ← That was exactly my face.
It was 12PM already. At that time I was supposed to be finishing with the dose, but I haven't even started it. Then the doctors says that we could replace the Vinblastine with Vincristine. Nice, a new flavor for the cocktail!
We went to eat something, then we purchased the Vincristine (because it wasn't under the insurrance approval). Having everything, we started the chemo at 3PM and we finished 5hrs later… 7PM. That's what I call a day!
I'm very grateful that we were able to find an viable alternative. I'm thinking about people in other places in this world that can get any of these treatments… I'm thinking like that not because I got Hodgkin, but because I have seen the good will of some person as my personal doctor and the nurses, and I have also the reality of new things. For example, the doctor explained that one possible reason that we don't have Vinblastine is because it is one of the cheapest meds, and pharmaceutics don't sell too much. Yes, that sucks! I know they are not a charity institute, they are a business. But we are all humans.
Anyway, focusing on the bad things will not solve anything. I decide to focus my attention on how things went good for us. I strongly believe that Jehovah God had a role on this, because He had helped me to have a good attitude towards things in life. And many scientists and doctors proved that a good attitude have a good influence in us. We, my wife and I, also proved that attitude makes a difference!
I would like to conclude this post with a Bible proverb that states:
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit saps one’s strength.” (Proverbs 17:22)