Chemo round 1

Today I got my first round of chemo. It's so weird how non nonchalant everything is. They paired me with a nice lady who was here for her 2nd round of the same chemo. It was nice to sit and be able to chat with her about how she felt from her first round until now and she is doing great. She hardly had any side effects.

Too much stuff? And no that's not tequila in the brown bag!

When I got there and checked in I went to the infusion center. My nurse gave me a tour of the center. The bathrooms (only for patients...not even the staff can use them!), the kitchen (they have a fridge filled with water, soda, juice) and they have a water machine for hot and cold water and hot chocolate and a Keurig for coffee. It all says patients only but they were allowing family/friends to use it too so maybe it depends on how busy it is. I packed a giant bag full of food- sandwiches, pretzels, popcorn, applesauce, skittles for me, chocolate covered pretzels for George, a drink for him. We were definitely over prepared which is good. I commented to the nurse about how big my bag was and she told me that it was pretty small compared to some other people which made me feel great!

Then it was finally time to get started. First the nurse accessed my port which just felt like a little needle stick (I have lidocaine to put on it before I go) and then I got my pre-chemo drugs- anti-nausea and steroids.

Hi port! 

After those were done I felt a little sleepy but then I started the first chemo drug which is bright red. The nurse has to push that through the iv and that took about 10-15 minutes.

Then she hooked up my next chemo drug and that one dripped for about an hour or so. It had to be covered by a green bag because its sensitive to light. So weird. The third drug can cause allergic reactions and my nurse sat with me when that started and talked to me about all my prescriptions to see if I had any reactions to it (I did not!).

It was surprisingly relaxing. We were home around 2:15 so from start to finish it took about 3.5 hours which was 2.5 hours less than they told me it would take. I probably could have slept the whole time but I wanted to see what was going on so I could ask questions and also I have to confirm my name and date of birth before each drug was started.

Tomorrow I have to go back for my shot of Neulasta. Neulasta is a medication that helps increase blood cells and immunity. Its supposed to hurt in your bones which sounds scary. So tonight I'll take my steroid for chemo and then claritin for the Neulasta. The claritin is supposed to block something in Neulasta so it doesn't hurt as much. It works for some people but not everyone. I also have vicodin if it doesn't work!

Right now I'm feeling a little nauseous. I'm not sure if its a side effect of chemo or I just don't really have much in my stomach. I ate dinner and a snack. I'm hesitant to take the medication and I don't know why. I hate taking any type of medication but I don't want to feel sick if I don't have to. So I'll probably add it to my bed time medication list.

The meal train site is going great so far! Thanks everyone who have signed up so far! We have about 8 dates filled so far! Let me know if you want the link and I'll send it to you!

Only FIVE more rounds of chemo to go!!!