Chemo Monday

 

Today was chemo day. We were there early at 7:20am. Arland and Katie accompanied me. Here are some pictures and short (ok, well maybe not short...I like words you know!!!) explanations of the pictures. 

 

  

 

 

The first thing I do when I get to the Roger Maris Cancer Center (RMCC), is register. One of the people who registered me in the past was a former student at Westside. She recognized me, even though I did not have her or her sister in my class. She now works in the Infusion center at RMCC instead of registering people. I went back to the infusion center immediately after registering to have my blood drawn to see if I was able to have chemo today.

 

After my blood draw, I went back out to the waiting room and what did I see??? I found a former police chief eating a doughnut!!! Imagine that!!!
 

I spent the next hour and 20 minutes waiting for the results of my blood draw. Arland read the paper and Katie and I visited. Finally, my beeper went off and we were taken back to the Infusion Center again to begin my infusions.

 

As you can see, I am down to my second to the last infusion!!!  I am soooooo delighted about that!

 

My blood test came back with some not so good reports. My tests showed very, very low platelets counts. That is not good because platelets help blood to clot. That explains all the black and blue marks I have been getting lately. Lower platelets counts are normal for people getting chemo, but they usually don't get that low. Because I am heading into my last chemo in 3 weeks, they THINK I will have enough platelets to do the last chemo.  If not, I will need to wait a week for my last chemo OR get a blood transfusion. Time will tell...

 

 

 

 

I begin my infusions with four pre-chemo bags of medications. They help keep the chemo side effects under control. After each of the four bags are empty, I get a short rinse with IV fluid. The most common IV fluid is called Normal Saline (NS) and it is a saline (sodium chloride and water) solution. After that, I get the two chemo drugs, Taxotere and Carboplatin, and then Herceptin. I get a 10 minute rinse with the saline IV between each of the chemo drugs. The rinses help the drugs get through the tubing and into my port.

Each time a chemo drug is given, my nurse puts on a gown, a mask, clear safety goggles, and double gloves. After the drug is hung on the IV pole, she takes off all the extra protection and calls in a second nurse. The second nurse is the safety check. I tell them my name and birthdate to make sure the drug is for me. Then one nurse reads the labels and amounts of the chemo on the bag  as the other nurse checks the doctors orders on the computer to make sure the kind of chemo drug and the amount of drug is correct. They are very, very careful and contentious about getting the correct drug and accurate amount to the right person.

 

One problem I am experiencing is neuropathy in my fingers and toes. Neuropathy occurs as a result of nerve damage from my chemo drug, Taxotere. My fingers have been affected more than my toes. My fingers are numb which makes doing daily activities more challenging. I have some discomfort and difficulty opening bottles, tying shoes, snapping Olivia's clothing snaps, opening bags (like chip bags...but who doesn't have trouble opening them!!!), typing, writing, and other activities that you use your fingers to do.

Because neuropathy is often times permanent, my oncologist, Dr. Terstriep, reduced my Taxotere amount to 80% of what I got during my first four infusion for my last two infusions. She is on a national panel that has been studying a new drug for relief/reversal of neuropathy after chemo and believes I may be a candidate for trying the drug if the neuropathy continues or worsens. The drug would be given after all my chemo infusions are complete. I will find out more at my next appointment with her in three weeks.

 

Another one of the side effects of Taxotere that I get each time is face flushing. Right now, my face is very flushed! It looks like I was in the sun for hours and hours!!! It will be less red by morning. By tomorrow night, just my cheeks will be red and by Wednesday, I will be the correct color again.

 

 

On the day before chemo, I have to take a steroid pill in the morning and again at night to help manage the chemo side effects. One of the steroid's side effects for me is that sleep is elusive. Sunday night I fell asleep sometime after 3:30am and woke at 5:25am. Even though I needed very little sleep before I had cancer, two hours doesn't do the trick for me now!!!
 

As I mentioned above, I get four pre-chemo meds. One of them is Benadryl. Within 20 to 30 seconds of getting the Benadryl in my port, my eyes CANNOT stay open! That medicine puts me into sleepyland sooooo fast!!! I'm sure my two hours of sleep Sunday night also played a part in my sleeping for about an hour during my infusion. Two different people walked into my room to check on me and I didn't even know they were there!!! Katie took this picture...and of course I didn't know that either!!!

 

When I finally woke up, I had a visitor. Nels is an 84 year old volunteer whom we have come to know during our time at RMCC. He is the sweetest man who always checks to make sure we have enough to eat or drink. He is friendly and talkative and of course we always engage him in conversation because he is such a sweetheart! He helps make our time at RMCC pleasurable. He was a farmer for many years. He reminds us a lot of my Dad.

Arland stayed for part of the day but Katie stayed with me all day. I appreciate her staying with me very much. Unfortunately for her, I am not good company because of the Benadryl. She just keeps telling me to shut my eyes and go to sleep because my attempts at conversation are not very coherent! Towards the end of my infusions, the Benadryl has worn off some so I make a little more sense. At least I THINK I do!!!

 

Thanks to Kristi for putting the pictures on my blog and REPEATEDLY teaching me how to get them on this page!!!  Unfortunately for her, I am a VERY slow learner. 

 

 

There are several Golden Threads from the infusion today. The first is that I had another fantastic nurse! Her name was Casey and she was delightful! She had such a bubbly, sunshiny personality that we immediately liked and trusted her.

 

The second Golden Thread was that I DID NOT HAVE TO BE IN THE PARTY ROOM!!!!!!!!!!! I had a private room for which I was so very, very grateful! It is so much easier for both Katie and Arland to be with me. The party room is sooooo not conducive to having anyone with you. It is just too crowded! We very much appreciated having a private room for the loooong chemo infusion day today.

 

The third Golden Thread is that I can see the end of the chemo tunnel! What a wonderful feeling that is!!!

 

A quote I found fits how I am feeling as my venture with chemo nears it's end. Joni Eareckson Tada wrote, "The best thing we can hope for in this life is a peek at the shining realities ahead. A glimpse is enough to convince our heart that whatever sufferings and sorrows that currently assail us aren't worthy of comparison to that which waits over the horizon." 

 

And that's what I'm waiting for!!!