chemo: day 1

so yesterday chris and i went into dana farber to start my treatment. we of course got there like an hour early, but whatever.

so i know i have gotten a lot of questions on what it feels like and how i am feeling now, so i just wanted go over those things with you. i know i had never been in this kind of situation before, so i'm sure neither have a lot of you.

so we get there and the leukemia and lymphoma cases kind of have their own area on the first floor. i have to go in and get my height and weight checked, then go back to sit in the waiting room. it was a particularly packed day in there, and i literally started to feel the weight of everything that was happening to me. i couldn't sit still, i wouldn't let Chris touch me, i just didnt want to be starting this and not out here in the lobby with very sick looking people with masks and gloves, some not being able to walk. i wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment, at work having the day fly by because im so busy, over playing with my mom's dog...anywhere. it sucks. i just started to get up to just wander around because i could no longer sit still when they called my name 'holy shit, I'm going into the infusion area, where they give the chemo, for cancer, and it's for me. i don't get it'

so after having a minor breakdown the nurse: Kerri, brought me over to a chair and said she was going to put an I.V in. arm one, no luck. arm 2, no luck. while kerri was going over paperwork with me, it came to the talk about losing my hair. and i really started to lose it, i think being a female she got it, and knows there is nothing she cant say other than the great wigs they have now, etc, i gathered myself together. Kerri also said it's my first time it's all very scary and overwhelming.

Kerri calls in reinforcements to get the IV and she gets in first time. she says that nurse always shows everyone up. well anyway the IV was in and i was going to get about half a bag of saline before starting the chemo.-side note, never did the words 'just a pinch' come out of their mouths...i'm just saying...

our fellow, Dr. Bhatt came over and just asked any remaining questions i had, and wanted to let me know that most people in this infusion room don't have what i have, so i shouldn't think down the line, that's going to be me. which really helped a lot in thinking about it.

so this would be three or so hours chris and i sat around, luckily i had my laptop. then the volunteers roll around a cart that chris did everything but dive completely into. they had sandwiches, chips, (sun chips i might add)and drinks. so i had a nice lunch of that. then still waiting, my stepdad david stopped by on his lunch break to check out the situation. he likes to poke his head around.

so they finally started administering the drugs at like 1-130. the first two Kerri sat and administered them through huge syringe. the first, the "A' of the treatment is red, which i am told will make my pee orange. and oh boy did it. i had forgotten about her warnings when i was in the bathroom and got really freaked out. the second was also given with a syringe, the third went through my IV and lasted about 10 mins, and the last one went through IV and lasted about an hour. i had to pee a lot throughout this process and i always get nervous because, well I'm carting cancer drugs around.

so after that i was done! free to leave, but not before picking up
my prescriptions!here is a little snapshot of all the anti-nausea pills

oh and rested assured chris has thoroughly read through all those pamphlets and has begun a med schedule up on the fridge.


driving home i had weird spurts of having a headache and then feeling that i might throw up, but then that went away, i just wanted to get home. for an hour or two i just had an intense stomach pain/nausea.

right now, the day after i just feel groggy, like i'm walking around slower its taking me longer to type than usual, and texting is hard, its just like double vision on the screen.


ok that's all for now. you start to see the real effects 12-48 hours after treatment....so it looks like a big weekend of fun in bed