Chemo Treatment #1 (the Next Day)

Well, one down, 16 and a half to go (I still have the Immune Booster Shot this afternoon, it’s a drug called Neulasta).  Yesterday was rough.  We got to the hospital around 7 in the morning so that they could do lab work.  Then we met the doctor a little after 8:30.  We then chatted for a little bit and went over everything and finally made it to the CTU (for Amy and her law enforcement colleagues and friends, CTU means “Comprehensive Treatment Unit”, not, as Amy said, “Counter Terrorism Unit”) for my Chemo Treatment.

Started out by my nurse, a truly wonderful woman named Lorna, accessing the port that was “installed” last Thursday.  Hurt a bit, but not that bad.  We started out with an hours worth of IV hydration, then went to about an hours worth of medication (this was for nausea, not the chemo).  Then came the chemo.  It was 3 drugs and a bladder protector called Mensa.  This is something that nurse has to administer herself through syringes, not just hanging a bag on the IV drip.  Once she starts that, your stuck till its over.  Got a bad taste in my mouth immediately and got really nauseous.  Didn’t loose it though, thank god.  After about 10 mins or so, everything settled and I was fine.  After that, I was stuck there for 6 hours of IV hydration, with a couple more treatments of the Mensa.  We finally left around 11:30 or so last night, another 40 mins or so to get home.

Let me apologize here if I just repeated everything that was already posted, just wanted to give a summary.  From here on is definitely some new info.

Let me tell you, it is amazing what “feeling clean” can do to your attitude.  After 16/17 hours at the hospital, I felt pretty crappy when I got home.  Had to force myself to take a shower (the first real one I had since last Tuesday night (wasn’t allowed to with the procedures I had done for the biopsy and the port implant, and then had to be very careful afterwards so I didn’t get the bandages on my chest wet).  I cannot say what a mood lifter it was to feel clean.

I have to say that I cannot thank my wife and my father enough for being with me yesterday.  I know there is no way I could do this without them.  As uncomfortable as I was, I cannot imagine how hard this is for them.  At least I was in a somewhat comfy chair the whole time.  It even reclined.  They sat in crappy chairs the whole time trying to work.  And to do anything that I asked of them.

Dad: I know you’ve done this more than you ever should have too, but thank you.  I love you so much.

Amy: I don’t even know where to begin.  You’re my angel and my life.  I love you so much,

Woke up this morning feeling ok.  Not great, still kinda just……..”blaah”.  Don’t really know how else to say it.  Stomach is kinda upset.  The anti-nausea stuff doesn’t really seem to work, or maybe it does and without it, it would be a lot worse.  I won’t be testing that theory though.

What really made my day today was to hear that my grandmother came through her surgery with flying colors and that she is going to be just fine.  She is one tough old broad.

Thank you all for your posts.  I can’t tell you what it means for me to read them, from both family, friends, people I haven’t even met.  Amy’s friends and colleagues are such great people.

I think that’s it for now.  I may post again later after the Neulasta, but I will see how I feel.

By the way, Amy put a few new things on the blog.  There is now a counter to show the number of treatments completed and the number to go.  You will really start to see me smile when there are more behind me than ahead of me.  Also, another feature is a subscription to the blog.  If you would like to subscribe, put your email in and when there is a new blog posting, it will send you an email about it.

Also, please look at some of the stuff on the right.  Some of you have asked about how to comment and to see more about the type of cancer I have.  On the right, there is information on how to post a comment (you don’t have to be a blog subscriber/member) and hyperlinks to a site my doctor gave me about Ewing’s Sarcoma (my cancer) and cancer in general.

That’s it for now.  Gonna try to eat something.  Keep your fingers crossed.