My appointment was at 8am. I think I'm the first one here, cuz it's really quiet. Actually, it's kind of nice. I check in with the nice lady at the front desk and she takes Neil and I back to the 'Infusion Waiting Area'. Nice. They have a bookcase there with lots of paperback books for us to read as well as magazines. There's also a coffee and snack area that is at our disposal. Everything is complimentary... they want to make sure we're as happy and comfy as possible. Neil and I both notice a flyer on the coffee table that is advertising for a free cooking class, put on by the resident nutritionist AND my very own Dr. Chemo! Seems Dr.-Easy-on-the-Eyes has also graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school! Talk about your over-achiever. What the heck... sign us up!
We get called back by Nurse Wendy and as she sits us down and starts hauling a pile of plastic wrapped items from a cupboard, explains that she had breast cancer about 10 years ago, so she's been there. I feel bad that she's had to go through this, but also comforted by the news as well.
The first hurdle is to get the needle into the port -- but because I just had the port installed, everything is swollen and it's tough to figure out where to poke me. First, she gives me a shot of Lydicane to help numb the area -- so you're giving me a shot, so I don't feel the next shot? -- um, ok. Then she shows me this thing that looks like a great big thumb tack with a tube on on the backside. She presses all around to try and find the edges of the port so she can stick the thumbtack in the middle of it, but she's worried that she's missed. Her voice keeps going up in octaves as she's talking, and I can feel my hands getting clammy. She doesn't waste any time in calling over another nurse who quickly steps in and takes over. I glance up, and Neil is already standing out in the hallway, out of the way. In about 2 seconds, the second nurse has it in place and they are getting a good blood flow return, so they know they are "in". Okay, now I can start breathing again. They tell me that in the future this will be MUCH easier since the swelling will be down. Let's hope so!
Okay, now the fun can begin.. first up are 3 bags of steroid anti-nausea drugs. Welcome to the Big Guns. (Dexamethasone, Palonosetron [aka 'Aloxi'], and Fosaprepitant [aka 'Emend'] for you chemists out there)
After all of that, Nurse Wendy arrives with another nurse and they are carrying this large clear yellow bag that has 'Toxic' warning signs all over it. It looked like a huge Mr. Yuck bag. It's a safety precaution that all chemo drugs are confirmed by 2 nurses to make sure that the right drugs are going to the right patient. Cool. Everything checks out and we're set to begin....
The first one in is the Adriamycine- this is some nasty shit. It's the one in the big red syringe in the photo above. The nurse stands behind me and manually administers it into the IV tubing and after every few milliliters, she tests to make sure she gets blood back -- to verify that the stuff is indeed still going direct to the vein and not into any tissue. Because apparently, if it touches any tissue, the tissue dies. Lovely. Well, I have my laptop on my lap and I'm answering emails and never even glance at the stuff. It's better that way.
Next up is the Cytoxin. A big clear bag that hangs on the IV tree and takes about 35 minutes to go in. After all that, I'm DONE! First chemo is in the books and I'm free to go.
Tomorrow I'll go back in for a real quick shot of Neulasta - this stuff tells my bones to crank up their production of white blood cells.
Neil brings me home and part of me keeps waiting for something to happen... anything... but really I just kind of feel fuzzy in the head. Like I've had one too many glasses of wine. I plug away at work for awhile and then take a short nap. I wake up feeling a bit better and work a little more. M2 (Michele Bodtke) comes over for a visit and brings some cheery yellow flowers and a bag full of yarn for me to take with me during my treatments. It will give me something rather mindless to do and I can knit watch caps (tuques) and give them away to cancer patients or give them to the Mission or something... it's a good way to give back to everyone that's been giving to me.
I check in with Pam and we arrange to meet up at the off-lead dog area and walk the dogs for a bit. We don our headlamps and head off into the wind and rain. The dogs are ON FIRE -- good Lord can Mambo and Murphy run. Mocha hangs back with Pam and I. None of the dogs have really left my side since I came home. I must smell really strange to them.
So here we are at the end of Day 1. Overall, I feel okay.. just tired, but I think that's just from the mental/emotional drain of the day. The steroids were supposed to make me wired, but all I want to do is go to bed, and I think that's probably a good thing. My friend, Bart, says that 'sleep is a weapon' and I believe it is. So I'll make myself a cup of herbal tea and head to bed and let the angels watch over me.
Good night World.
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