Chemo Cocktail #1 with an H2O Chaser

Today was my first chemotherapy. As I posted yesterday, I went in thinking it would be just another needle. For the most part this was true.

I was weighed in kilograms - which I really prefer since the number is soooo much lower than its equivalent in pounds! Then I was taken into my own personal chemo room with a nice recliner, pillow, t.v. and dvd player just for me. My nurse, Heather, inserted an IV needle into a vein on my right hand and began by taking a vial or two of blood to the lab to check that all was well and I could begin treatment. The lab work took no more than 20 minutes and I was given some anti-nausea meds. That IV was followed by another steriod anti-nausea med. The IV was going into me, but the nurse didn't think the flow was good on that hand, so she placed another one in my left hand. It didn't take, so another nurse, "The Vein Whisperer" as I called her, came and inserted it. Then we began a toxic red chemo cocktail that, if it comes in contact with tissue, inside or out, can burn. Heather donned a surgical paper cover-up and gloves and covered my arm with something so none of the "medicine" would come in contact with my skin if any dripped. I got three lovely syringe-fulls of that.

By that time 3 hours had passed and Beni and the boys came to pick me up and so they sat with me for the final treatment. This one would be given over the course of half an hour. As it began to enter my system, my head began to feel tingly, which worried me because a friend who's been through all of this told me her head felt tingly when her hair fell out. The sensation moved from the back of my head to my sinuses. Then my nose became almost instantly congested. I told the nurse and she said that no one had ever told her that before. Great! She went to look into it and came back to report that another nurse said that only one other person at the center experienced that reaction, so the next time they would give me that particular med over the course of an hour instead of only 30 minutes. Hopefully, letting it go in more slowly will get rid of the side-effects. After the IV was emptied into me, I waited for 15 minutes. Luckily, once the chemo was done, those tingly symptoms went away. The needle was removed and I was on my way.

I was glad the boys and Beni got to come and see where I will be and how it will look when I get my treatments. The place itself is very stylish and the people were very nice. Now I have to remember to drink my water - 64 oz. a day if not more - and pee every 2 hours to get the chemicals out of my system so they are not sitting in my bladder for extended amounts of time.

The only side effect I am experiencing so far is feeling flushed. I wouldn't call it hot flashes, because I am feeling constantly hot - no flashing, just steady hot. I've got the anti-nausea pills at the ready but the nurse said I probably won't need them right away.

One down, only 19 more to go!