Chemo Session #1

It wasn't terrible.  

Jacquelyn was at my door at 7:15am with a bright smile, hair products--a gift from her stylist for me to mitigate hair loss, and a walnut-cranberry mix to snack on the short drive to Texas Oncology.  We were the only non-staff people present and the floor was sparse, quiet and calm.  A nurse named Suzie showed me to the infusion room to first take blood and give me the lay of the land.  My seat was one closest to the nurse's station as I was the only new patient during this time slot and after the vial of blood was taken, Suzie ushered me back to Jacquelyn in the waiting room while the lab technicians could survey my blood.  During that short walk we learned we had BodyBusiness in common...she had been a member for several years and met her future husband there!  Small world moments remind me I'm on the right path.  After filling out a bit of paperwork and a brief exam with Nurse Lana I went back to the infusion room for the fun to begin.

Besides coffee and the nut mix, I hadn't eaten a proper breakfast so drank a vanilla ensure from the snack room and sweet Lady J went off to find me some better sustenance.  The nurse attending me today named Teresa explained that an empty stomach can cause nausea, and they work hard to prevent this from happening with a pre-chemo drip of essentially Pepcid and something like Benadryl.  Nothing is better than food though.  On my request, Jacquelyn drove to nearby Russell's Bakery and though it was early and full of the coffee n' croissant crowd, the barista agreed to make a sandwich, but the soup was just not ready yet.  The sandwich was perfect, and she was back with it before the pre-med drip was empty and the harder drugs had yet to come. I ate my early morning sandwich with glee and part of the gf pumpkin bread Jacquelyn so nicely fetched and paid for, while she sipped on coffee and banana bread...this is actually kind of nice.  The effects of the Benadryl didn't take long to kick in, so I asked Jacquelyn to go on with her day and I rested my eyes for quite a while.     

The floor came to life within this time and when I opened my eyes again the room was full of patients, nurses and volunteers.  Everyone was exceptionally present, kind and reassuring.  Every 30-45 minutes the allotted chemo bag would empty, and Teresa would begin another one.  Today they dripped more gradually than will my subsequent visits, as the first time the body receives the drugs is the most susceptible time for rejection/allergic reaction or other problems arising.  Besides feeling drowsy, I had no issues, really didn't feel any differently, other than slight temperature variations and that was easily fixed with my new, super soft Barefoot Dreams cardigan and blanket my sweet friend Tamra and our late sweet spirit Terri gave to me on Monday.  I had my hands and feet packed in ice sleeves, for a few hours anyway (to help stave off neuropathy, another dreaded side effect) but my core stayed cozy and at times almost too warm.  I felt surrounded by the loving thoughts of many loved ones.

Tricia came around 11:30 with her bright and cheery presence and reassuring laughter.  We had the time to converse and laugh, see a patient ring the final session bell and around 1pm were on our way home.  We stopped at Juiceland and I ordered my new favorite smoothie, the Vegetable Collective, along with a hot shot that Tricia kindly treated me to, and she didn't poke fun at me when twice I tried to take her smoothie from the counter, which was green, while mine was dark purple.  I may have been slightly loopy, but the guy who made the drinks said it was brighter than usual as the beets were really fresh, I know not why I expected it to be a vivid green.   Around the corner and we were home, Tricia made sure I was safely ensconced, and I ate the rest of my sandwich and went right to sleep.  Mark called from Egypt and we went over Dr. Zhang's chemo meditation protocol again.  I toyed with the idea of staying home the rest of the day but was feeling so well I taught my muscle-recovery yoga class at Evolution Fitness and then dined with dear neighbors, Ted and Aletha, on a lovely meal of homecooked salmon and mustard greens.

I just finished a long, hot soak and another round of doing the meditation/visualizations that will aid my body and all the cells during this process, and feel ready for a long, restorative sleep.  I sure hope you are ending the day well and in a place of ease, peace and contentment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lucky #3

Breathing came a little easier after hearing Dr. Patt declare the cancer is only at stage three, that it definitely hasn't spread to any other areas of my body.  Now begins the task of shrinking the tumors, so the surgical procedure is easier and has a higher success rate.   Next week I will begin a twelve-week chemotherapy protocol of a drug named Taxol.  Every Wednesday for the next twelve weeks from 8am - noon I will have this cancer-killing cocktail infused into my bloodstream, where it takes 24 hours for the drug to do its work and leave my system.  After three months of Taxol, I begin a biweekly treatment of Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) + Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) together called AC.  After two months of AC infusions, I get to have a month or so of recovery before facing surgery.  (I'm hoping by then they find not one cancerous cell left in my body and surgery won't be necessary...magical moe-thinking, perhaps, but I'm praying for it anyway.)  ...
Read more

Cinco de Mayo

The silver linings of the rollercoaster cancer ride keep showing up: my PET scan was beautifully clean; no further lymph node removal is needed! I'm still riding the high on this piece of information, spoken to me a few days ago, by the new doctor in my life.   (I wanted to pick him up and swing him around the little exam room, but his feet would've knocked Francine over.)  I kept my cool, somewhat, and only gushed about my relief over this good news, and I'm pretty sure I was jumping up and down. Just before meeting Dr. Nuesch, I experienced white-coat syndrome.  My pulse rate was as high as you'd want it to be if you were engaging in aerobic exercise (though I felt fine, desiring to run out the door, and all the way to Terlingua).  Francine was probably close to pulling out her phone again and playing more Sanskrit chanting music to try and help me calm down.  The nurse had me deep breathing, and after a bit the pulse rate went from 130 down to 110, up again, ...
Read more

Sixteenth and Final Chemotherapy Session

Last Friday's final session was a happy ending to a celebratory week, one that welcomed my youngest brother, Brian, to town for a short visit before returning Mom back to Kansas just after the ringing of the bell at Texas Oncology, which was the best two-minute party I've ever had.   Complete with many radiant faces, confetti-throwing and congratulations all around, it was the perfect culmination of Mom's time here in Austin, caring for her eldest daughter, and also the commencement of a new chapter for her, and for our family: returning to our hometown and into her own, new nest, in a retirement community just a few miles from the house we've called home since 1983, when we moved as a family of eight, from Kearney, Nebraska to Clay Center, Kansas.  My siblings are faced with the lion's share of work required to clear the house and prepare it for sale, and I'm sorry I won't be able to be there to help, also a little sad I won't be able to see it one last...
Read more