First Chemo Treatment

Treatment #1 - Done!

Today was the day for my very first chemotherapy treatment. Wow. Who would ever think this day would come? I knew it would be several hours so I had a tote bag of magazines, a book, my ipod and things to keep me occupied through the day. I ate a light/bland breakfast of toast and a scrambled egg, and skipped my usual latte. One of the drugs could cause bladder ulcers, so I started on the suggested 2 liters of water that I'm supposed to drink today. Prior to leaving I put numbing creme on my portacath so it wouldn't be as painful when they access it.

On the way over, I read Psalms 4... one of my friends texted me and suggested that I read it before I start treatment. Verse 8 spoke to me: "I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." I just prayed things would go well with minimal side effects.

Once we got there, mom stayed with me the whole time. Starting at 9:00am, they accessed my port, there was a little problem with getting blood back with the port but once they laid me back in the chair it worked fine. They gave me an anti-nausea drug first, then a steroid that compliments the anti-nausea drug that also gives you the "well being" feelings. Then the nurse gave me the anti-nausea wonder drug, Emend... that I will apparently be coming back and getting another dose of tomorrow, along with the blood count boosting shot, Neulasta.

Those were just the pre-chemo drugs! Around that time the nurse realized that they didn't have a negative pregnancy test on file for me. A verbal assurance isn't enough to go on... so they drew back more blood through the port (thank the Lord for that!) so they could have a negative test on file. It was almost comical at this point. But alas, the treatment went on...

Just before 10am, we started the actual chemo drugs. The first was Adriamycin, which is a red injection through the port. It is probably the most toxic, it causes hair loss, potential heart damage, and most immediately red or orange pee!!! Yep. That was an interesting turn of events. Thankfully they warn you about that one.

A few minutes later they hooked me up to the Cytoxan. That is the one that requires me to drink 2 liters of water today and tomorrow and go to the bathroom frequently to prevent the bladder ulcers. It can also cause sinus stuffiness and dryness. It was administered over about an hour but halfway through I noticed my sinuses getting stuffy so they slowed it down. I took a Sudafed Sinus pill around that time but probably should have took it prior to the treatment. Good to know for next time.

Around 11:15 I got the final drug, Taxotere. That went fairly uneventful. But I was starting to feel pretty drugged by then. I can't really explain the feeling other than that. We finished up by around 12:30 and got to leave a few minutes later, so it did take four hours. The metallic taste that they warned me about hit and I sucked on a peppermint candy as we left.

I mostly just lounged in the recliner when I got home. I got a massive migraine and took one of my migraine pills. It didn't really help so I just worked on keeping up my fluids and some snacks. A couple hours later, the migraine was still there so I took another migraine pill... it was definitely a sinus headache... and laid down for a nap. Later that night it started to feel better. I drank a protein shake and then my stomach started to hurt so I took a phenogren and went to bed.

Overall, I didn't really know what to expect the day of chemo. I believe it went fairly well. I know it takes 48-72 hours to get this out of your system so this is just day one down, but it's a start.