Cocktail Menu
These cocktails will make the Rum & Raspberry at the famous Fernando’s bar in Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique look like red cooldrink served at a children’s party served with birthday cake and zoo cookies. Both (the R&R’s and Chemo Cocktails) pack a punch.
The R&R’s might make you wake up a day later at the beach and regret all your life choices that bought you to this moment. You will most probably repeat the experience again later the day.
Chemo Cocktails on the other hand will pack a punch which you will feel for days afterward. The process will be repeated sadly with no epic stories attached like a tiger in the bathroom like in the Hangover movie.
The Infamous Cocktail Menu:
- The Triad
Ingredients: Paclitaxel (Taxol) and carboplatin, and Keytruda (Immunotherapy)
Punch factor: A wallop of a punch. My side effects included a rash. Tingling in fingers. Fatigue
Hair factor: I lost most of my hair within three weeks of my first treatment. By my second treatment I was as hairless as a hairless skinny cat.
Funnies: One of the medications they gave with carboplatin is an antihistamine to make sure you don’t experience any allergic reactions. This made me sleep through most of my treatment of about five hours,
Repeated: Every twenty-one days, eight times.
Cost: $$$$$
Medical aid paid for the chemo, but not for the immunotherapy.
- The Solo:
Ingredients: Keytruda (Immunotherapy)
Punch factor: Jab. Energy improved but fatigue was still there.
Hair Factor: Yipeee! My hair grew back. I had a lovely pixie look with patterns shaved into the hair
Repeated: Every twenty-one days for three rounds
Cost: $$$$
Medical at first did not pay for the immunotherapy, but later agreed to pay for it.
- The Red Devil[1]
Ingredients: doxorubicin former brand name Adriamycin.
Punch factor: Battering ram. It turns your urine red for a bit. It felt like I had a rock in my stomach –not throwing up but that that feeling of being unwell. I also stated feeling a bit blue with the Red Devil –realising that my cancer is not going to be a quick sprint but an ultra-marathon on steroids. I also realised that I entered menopause at the ripe old age of thirty-eight- ancient. Fatigue level pretty bad.
Hair Factor: Gone with the wind.
Repeated: Every twenty-one days for three rounds
Cost: $
Medical Aid Paid
- Popper:
Some wild parties have some pill popping going on. This was my pill popping chemo.
Ingredients: Capexa
Punch factor: Easiest one of the lot. Taking the pills on an empty stomach or a to light meal is not recommended as this will lead to feeling very nauseas.
Hair Factor: Fluffy regrowth.
Repeated: Tablets twice a day for fourteen days, rest for seven days. And start again. I did two rounds.
Cost: $
Medical Aid Paid
- Light Sabre –Time to spice up this party. We need some magic rays
Ingredients: Radiation
Punch factor: Ten rounds with Mohammed Ali. At this stage my tumour was huge- a C cup huge. It is difficult to say whether the pain was from the tumour or radiation or the combination of both. If I didn’t take my schedule scary pain medication on time, I was curled up with pain.
Funny fact: your nipples can also get sunburned and peel which in essence what radiation is like on your skin.
I also got radiation damage which caused my frozen shoulder.
Hair Factor: Growing and intact
Repeated: 10 rounds of fifteen minutes each.
General thoughts: These ten rounds with Mohammed Ali were super effective –it did a mean job on the tumour.
Cost: $$
Medical Aid Paid
- Platinum Pee
Ingredients: Gemcitabine and cisplatin
Punch factor: Sucker punch. Tingling in feet and fingers gotten much worse on this chemo. I had more bouts of nausea on this one than all the others. Strangely enough, I lost my love for rooibos tea (my go-to hot beverage) and experienced more sensitivity to spicey food –even pepper!
Hair Factor: Thinning of my hair, the most stayed intact but with definite bolder spots
Repeated: Every cycle had two treatments –day one, and day eight, one week of. And start again. I did nine rounds, thus eighteen infusions.
Funnies: Before you can get the cisplatin wonder potion you need to provide a urine sample. Well not sample par se, because that implies a little bit of urine. You must give a more than half a litre of urine. This is to ensure that your kidneys are working and will not take strain with the potion. If there was a pissing contest, I would have won it.
Cost: $
Medical Aid Paid
- Sponge Bob
Ingredients: Halaven. It is derived from a natural molecule originally discovered in a type of sea sponge.
Punch factor: Snotty Smack.
Hair Factor: All my hair remained in place except my eyebrows and lashes.
Repeated: Every cycle had two treatments –day one, and day eight, one week of. And start again. I did six rounds, thus twelve infusions
Funnies. In general, whilst I was having this chemo, I had more colds than in the prior two years.
Cost: $$
Medical Aid paid eighty percent of it.
- Moon Shine –some more magic rays
Ingredients: Radiation
Punch factor: Quick Zap Tap
Hair Factor: Growing and intact
Repeated: 10 rounds of about two minutes each, or it felt that short.
General thoughts: These ten sessions were a lot easier than the previous ones. It was shorter in duration and more targeted. It also helped that I didn’t have a huge tumour and pain.
Cost: $$
Medical Aid Paid
“For a week I will be carefree, wild and enjoying island vibes.”
This week I am taking a holiday with my lovely mom and sisters on the beautiful island of Mauritius. I am currently also on treatment break, whilst the next plan is being put into action. I plan to take full advantage of all the fun cocktails available. For a week I will be carefree, wild and enjoying island vibes. Luckily there won’t be any tigers in the bathroom the next day, as the eldest sister will make sure I don’t stray to far onto the wild side –just a little bit.
[1] This is the actual nickname for the chemo. The other cocktail names are ones I invented.
