Boo-yah!

 

(This beautiful prayer shawl was knit by Beth Kring.  She prayed over every stitch in the shawl.  I feel very blessed.)

That's how I feel.  First round of chemo done.  Boo-yah!  My sister called me just now and wanted to know how bad it was.  Let me tell you, compared to the bumpkiss (sp?) I went through last week, this was easy street.  The toughest part was when the lab tech scared me a bit that the first time putting the IV into the port was going to hurt.  (Yes, insert crude jokes here.)  It really didn't.  Yeah, I am not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears of relief.  That woman maybe shouldn't be helping first-timers.

Oh yeah, and the other fun was when I went to take my anti-nausea medication, we pushed it through the tab and nothing came out.  Say what?!  Give me my anti-nausea stuff, people!  Matt, my hero, went through a lot of rigamarole, but he managed to procure another tablet (huge and white and pink, so clearly not something we just misplaced somehow) for me, and I was able to down it and have some time for it to kick in before heading into Chemo.

So...this whole thing from start to finish took approximately four hours.  Here is what it looked like today:

• Vitals taken
• IV placed
• Blood drawn
• Check in at "Day Hospital"
• Wait for 45 minutes - we went down to the shop and café to take a gander at some wigs (I don't think I will be using one, but I get one from insurance, so I am going to pick one out anyway).
• Back to the Day Hospital where first they flush the IV (awesome - NOT.  I can taste it when they do this.  So weird.  THANK YOU, CARRIE KONS FOR THE LEMONHEADS!).
• "Pre-Medications"  I think this mainly consists of more anti-nausea meds and possibly an anti-biotic.
• Wait for 10 minutes
• First Chemo drug (Epirubicin) - 10-ish minutes
• Wait for 10 minutes
• Go to the bathroom
• Second Chemo drug (my fav - 5-Fluorouracil, also known as 5-FU) - 10-ish minutes
• Wait 10 minutes
• Go to the bathroom
• Get lots of warm blankets, as of now I have severe shivers, which were explained as a reaction to the fact that all these drugs are at room temperature and my body is at 98-degrees, thereby cooling my body down, from the inside.  So cold.
• Third Chemo drug (Cytoxan - emphasis on the "toxan") - 45 minutes
• Go to the bathroom in the middle somewhere
• IV removed
• Head home

Not so bad, right?  Actually, it was way better than that as Matt decided we needed to have some company and the right people for the job were my friends Heather Schwar and Jenny Rybarczyk.  We played Uno twice (Matt won once and I won the second round), laughed a lot, and learned much as well.  Heather walked me to the bathroom, with IV in tow, every time and is now a warm blanket expert.  Jenny gave me the best memory as I mentioned how I thought the pre-meds were making me a little dizzy, "Suck it up, Buttercup!"  Love.  Matt is my champion and got my water cup refilled and handed me lemon drops for the initial drug push, when I taste it.  Yuck.  And, we all got popsicles!

I have to say, that if you have to go through sh!t, the best way to do it is with good friends, laughing, and having popsicles.  I had chemo today, with an emphasis on the therapy.  Thanks guys! 

And, just as important (seriously!) thank you to everyone who was at home praying (and taking care of my children - Mom, you are THE BEST).  You are all SO awesome.  Please keep it up.  Thank you SO much!

Now to see what tomorrow brings.  Next appt: Thursday.

(P.S.  Thanks for the warm socks, Carrie.  Love 'em!  I took the picture with the shoes on with them to show how silly I looked when heading to the bathroom.  Loved it.  Thank you!)