1st Treatment

One down, eleven to go.


Being this was my first treatment, there was a lot to be taken in. There is a lot of "routine" that needs to be learned. The cancer clinic is a very well oiled machine...I am learning how it ticks.


Job one was to get blood for panels. Every time I get treatment, they will be doing panels to verify it is safe to give me chemo. Definitely a much easier task (for all involved) with the port! 


I met with the PA to discuss what to watch for during infusion. She was pleased with my blood "numbers", and deemed me healthy enough for the infusion. 


I went back to the waiting room and given a "restaurant beeper". You know, the kind that vibrates and beeps when your table is ready? About 10 minutes later, it was going off. I went back up to the check in desk, and they sent me up to 3rd floor..."The Infusion Suite". 


I had heard this term before, and developed a picture in my head of what it might look like. Total miss...nothing what I had expected.


It was similar to an ICU in activity. There were many, many people receiving infusions...young and old. The floor was divided up into "pods", the pods were divided up into "suites" via the use of curtains. I didn't figure out how many suites there were to a pod...but I know there were a lot of them. The pods were labeled "A,B,C...", and I saw them up to L down the hall. 


Wow.


I was in Pod C. I was given the choice of a chair or a bed. I preferred a chair...a bed would have made me felt like I was taking up space a person sicker than me could use. It was a hospital recliner...very comfy.


I was given the quick tour...location of the snack area, restroom, magazines, blanket warmer. Then, my infusion started. I was given an estimate of 2 1/2 hrs for everything to be done, and we could go home. This was good news...I was expecting four.


I had brought a ton of magazines for both of us. Ron really didn't want his at first. I think he needed to absorb the place for a bit. From all of the talk of what could happen during the infusion, I think he was a bit freaked out. I was too. I knew he was freaked out because he got himself 2 granola bars from the snack area. He doesn't eat "sawdust bars". 


After about fifteen minutes, I wasn't feeling any different. I had a cold pop on my table to test if my hands had become sensitive to cold (one of the most common side effects). Then I would take a sip. My mouth wasn't sensitive either...yet.


Six magazines and four chapters of Tami Hoag later, and my infusion stand started beeping. The nurse came and told me, "You took that like a champ!" 


Did I have a choice?


She hooked me up to the pump that will infuse the second drug over a 48 hr period. It's not a cool, mechanical pump. It's a bottle with a balloon inside of it. No bells, no whistles. Less to go wrong, right?


Sure, but let's talk about how cumbersome it is to have a half-liter bottle, with 14 times too much tubing attached, hanging at your waist for 48 hours. It's been less than 24, and I am not liking it. Granted, it's better than sitting in the infusion suite for 48 hrs, but come on people! Let's design these things a bit more wearer friendly!


So, we start the hectic commute home from the U of M at the start of rush hour. It was an adventure, to say the least. I hadn't figured out what to do with the excess tubing, yet, so it was a job to make sure none of it got kinked. The seat belt was VERY uncomfortable on my port, so I had to hold it away. By the time we got out of the cities, just dealing with suburban traffic, I was feeling the start of steroid rage. Oh boy.


Waiting for for the green arrow in the left turn lane of an intersection, we have approximately 7 cars in front of us. Mr. "white car" in front of us has been a putz up to this light, and I am betting Ron $10 he is going to make us miss the light. I also had my left hand on the door handle, ready to discuss this with him when we catch him post-offence,  and the D-cell Maglight flashlight in my right hand. Yeah...


We made the light. Total disappointment.


We arrived home a little after 4pm. I grabbed a cold water and sat down to read all of the material I received with the pump. I took a sip of the water...yeah buddy! My mouth feels like I ate crystallized ice cream waaaay to fast, minus the brain freeze - thank God. My taste has also changed. Water has a tendency to taste - get this - creamy. Ugh.


I felt a bit of nausea about 2 hours after we got home, but meds have done a good job controlling it. I was quite exhausted from 6pm on, but the steroids and uncomfortable pump kept me from getting any sleep until around 11pm.


I awoke with no appetite, and my mouth is still sensitive to cold. I am told that it could even get sensitive to walking into an air conditioned building. None of that yet. I am told that dehydration adds to chemo side affects, so I will need to find liquids that I can tolerate at room temp. Diet Coke is going down ok, but not really acceptable is a hydrating liquid. I'll find something.


The roid rage is gone. I think.


The home nurse comes to remove the pump at 1pm tomorrow. I am told that once the pump is removed, I will probably sleep for 2 days. 


Eleven more treatments to go. I'm not sure how the side effects I am experiencing are going pan out...are they here until treatment 12, or do they go away a couple days post-infusion? The professionals say it can go both ways, and each treatment tends to intensify whatever is there. 


Again, time will tell.


Time for a nap.