I Can Do This, Boy!

Well treatment number one is behind us. We started the day with labs. I had the best nurse ever who accessed my port with no pain at all. You know I was dreading that. When they access it they basically stick a tiny needle straight into it so they push hard but it didn't hurt. Actually felt good when she cleaned it. She got a few tubes of blood from it with no problem & we were off to see Dr Keedy.

She spent another hour with us, patiently answering our questions and explaining things. We discussed the breast MRI. She made a good point that she is more inclined to believe the 2 negative findings than the one positive one. Her feeling was forget it, check it again in 6 months. I'm good with that. I don't know what it is about her but I think if she told me to run naked down the hall I probably would! Some human beings were made to be doctors - she is clearly one of them! Quick exam & we were off to the Infusion Clinic.

There they have 3 "pods" which consist of a central nurse's station and 15 individual rooms. The rooms are a little smaller than a hospital room, have 2 recliners, a tv & DVD & of course an IV pump. A curtain gives you privacy but really you don't see another person unless you go to the restroom. I only saw one other woman about my age. The others were all much older.

So you get a liter of IV fluids, steroids, & anti nausea meds while they are mixing your drugs. They come in & get gowned up before they touch the meds which was a little disconcerting! One of My drugs drips thru the IV, the others have to be manually pushed into the IV by a nurse. The reason for that is those are "vesicants" which means they will damage surrounding tissue if they get outside the veins. The whole thing took about 3 hours.

They say 6-48 hours until the side effects kick in. I felt fine until dinner time, even ate some toast when I got home. Now I feel fairly queasy though. Couldn't eat tonight. I just took some fenergan for nausea so I will be asleep soon I hope.

I really appreciate all the emails & texts today. Your words of encouragement really helped me today! I go back tomorrow for the same so by tomorrow night I expect the full effect to hit me. I have plenty of prescription meds for nausea so I hope I will be able to work Thursday & Friday. It's very practical to work from the chemo suite though. It's quiet & private, cell phone works, wifi capability, power outlets. That's great news!

So keep the positive vibes, notes & comments coming! We are excited for this weekend! Lots of help, I hope it will be fun!