Chemo Round 1

July 22 - Day 1.

So lets try to summarize the first bout with this crap. I got to the office around 1pm. The first thing they do is check my temperature, blood pressure, weight, and then they draw blood. (I'm guessing to make sure I'm ok for the latest round of poison. After that we (Steve and myself) meet with the physician assistant, got any questions answered and then moved on to the infusion room. I was then set up with an IV and they began to administer the pre-meds. I was given 2 different anti nausea medications and a steroid (also supposed to help with nausea) After that was all administered (about 1/2 hr) The nurse then pushed in the A. (acitiomine). That has to be administered carefully because it can cause serious harm if its out of the veins. (lovey thought) It was given through the iv so it could be mixed in with the saline. So once that was done I was then hooked up to the C (cytonie) and that was given as a IV drip. That took about and hour. Once that was done I was free to go. I was told to drink lots of water and get my systems flushed out. I was feeling fine until a little bit later on in the day. I was just a bit tired and just wanted to rest. I wasn't really nauseous feeling but did have a bit of a sour stomach. I just tried to eat bits small amounts and just tried to take it easy. Also I had a bit of a head ache.

Day 2
I had to go back to the infusion center to get my nuelesta shot. This is something I will have to do after every treatment. It is supposed to help boost my white blood cells so that I can get the chemo every 2 weeks on schedule. I continued to take my anti nausea meds on schedule and despite a little weirdness in the belly, the day wasn't to bad. I had small spurts (about an hour or so) here and there but for the most part I just rested.

Day 3 was similar to day 2. Last day I was supposed to take my anti nausea meds.

Day 4 - Wasn't sure what to expect. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I did manage to get out and do a few things but I was still very tired. (good thing too since Steve was pretty much no help that day)

Day 5 (Monday) was the worst day I would say so far. One of the SE's of the nuelesta shot was the possibility of bone pain as they were being called on to produce those necessary white blood cells. The best way to try to describe it was like a whiplash patient (never had whiplash but if I did I am guessing thats what it would have felt like). From my ears, down to my lower jaw, to my neck and shoulders were just in pain and sensitive to touch. It felt like I had one of those whiplash collars on and it was just painful. nothing seemed to help except a hot shower or the heating pad.

Day 6, Still in a bit of pain but it finally started to subside by the afternoon.

From that point on for the most part, I am back to my typical actives and stuff. I'm still getting some random pains here and there. I also have this yuck taste in my mouth and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it. So now its off to enjoy as much as I can the next few days until round 2 next thurs. At least each treatment is one step closer to being finished.

Oh I also still have my hair, I'm guessing (hoping) I'll have it for another week or so. Wig has been ordered but I really am not looking forward to that part of all of this. I'm very open with my diagnosis and will answer any questions that people my have but once the hair is gone I'm so afraid just by looking at me people are going to scream "CANCER PATIENT". I always hated to have attention on myself. It was hard when I had triplets to ignore the attention and deal with the crazies it brought out, I can only imagine what is next.