1st Chemo treatment

I did go into work last Friday and probably shouldn't have. I was still in a lot of pain and ended up with a stiff neck from looking at the computer all day. I felt much much better Saturday morning and went in for about 4 hours. We're extremely busy with the rates being so low.

The wounds were healing well, my problem was mostly with the bandaid on my neck and the tape around the dressing on the port. When I would change them, I had little water blisters under the tape that itched and burned like heck. After speaking with my mother, she had the same problem with adhesive tape before they invented plastic tape. There must be some ingredient that we're both allergic to.

I had my first chemo treatment yesterday. BDHA, MFD & MFS were all supposed to go. MFS ended up not going because he came down sick. The flu! Hopefully he'll be non-contagious by the time my immune system dumps. I did have a flu shot.

I was told that the procedure would take up to three hours so they were going to leave after the doctor saw me, do some Christmas shopping and then come back when I was done. I misunderstood the time frame. It was supposed to be three hours for the entire visit. The drip was only 1 hour. All BDHA and MFD had time to do was eat lunch and come back. We ended up being there for over 5 hours. Four of it waiting to get in to see the doctor and then waiting for a chair to open up. Since they couldn't schedule on Thursday, all of those people had to be spread out throughout the week. Plus most probably wanted it at the beginning of the week so that they would feel better by Christmas. Bet Friday is gonna be a real treat to work/wait there.

I saw Dr. R and Dr. L. They looked at my breast and I told them that the redness seemed to be going away on it's own. They both agreed. They still wanted a picture taken to compare even though it was now harder to see. Dr. L. told me to take the dressings off the wounds and leave them off if they were irritating me that badly. He watched me take them off and said they were fine. Yay! I was supposed to leave them on until Wednesday.

I saw the photographer next. He made me sign a disclaimer. I said "This is so you can post them on the internet, right?" His response was "U-tube here we come!"

What can I say..I've changed my mind about chemo. Disclaimer: This is being said at 7:43 a.m. the next day while I'm still under the influence of drugs. I was feeling queasy going in to see the doctor, mostly from nerves. They had me take the 125 mg pill of Emend (new anti-nausea drug that I had to pick up last week). Within 30 minutes, the queasiness was gone. The first solution they put into my iv was another anti-nausea drug. Then I took three pills (steroids) also used to combat nausea. I asked that they not use my port (go figure) because it was still pretty tender. They put it in my hand first try, no pain. The most painful part of the entire procedure was the first solution going in...I had a burning feeling going up my arm. The nurse told me it was from room temperature solution going into a warm body. She wrapped a hot towel around it and voila! all better.

The set-up at MWH is pretty nice. They have the nurse's station at one end and a wall of windows on the other end. There are halls leading between the nurse's station and the windows. There are two stations on each side of the walls. It was bright and sunny and relatively cheerful considering what we were all in there for. They had sandwiches and juice for the patients and at one point, a nurse came around with a box of chocolates offering one to patients and their visitors. MFD was in there for that so she had one. Each station has it's own private tv on a stand. Your chair is a recliner. My own private tv and recliner?! I don't even get that at home!

The nurse said for someone's whose veins are so hard to access, I had a really good flow. She had to actually slow the drip down because it was going in too fast. I felt pretty lucky after hearing some of the other patients talk about their treatments. Most were in there for hours and had to come in every week for three weeks and then a week off. Me, just once every three weeks for an hour. I can do this.

I also had a chance to look at all the different wigs women were wearing. I really liked the one woman's wig who was sitting directly across from me and the one kitty-corner to me. The one across from me was trying to sleep and not talking. The one kitty-corner was talking to everyone so I asked her where she got her's from. A place called "Karamoose" (how she said it, not sure how it's spelled) out near Monroeville. The nurse gave me a catalog from the American Cancer Society and I saw one in it that I liked. My hair is going to fall out sooner than I had expected; within 8-14 days. So now the search is on.

The nurse told me that I would have a lot of energy after the treatment (due to the steroids) and to not baby myself. Go out and do what I wanted. So on the way home, we stopped at Costco and picked up Christmas dinner, a standing rib roast. I also had to go to Kmart to get another anti-nausea prescription to take if needed. I still have two 80 mg pills of the Emend left. I take one this morning and one tomorrow morning.

Right now I feel great. I think I'll go eat breakfast, take my pill and see how the day progresses.

Yesterday was a good day.

Update on Dale: He's still in the hospital waiting for his digestive system to kick into gear. Once that happens, he can come home. Pray that he's home for Christmas.