1 Down...11 To Go, Blah!

Monday May 13th was my first round of chemotherapy.  Thank goodness Rick was able to take more time off work and be there with me...I was a total wreck!  I held it together until they hooked me up to all the wires before I lost it.  Then when I had to meet with the counselor, the social worker and the doctor I lost it all over again each and every time.  This picture is the bag with my "recipe" for the particular treatment I get. The bag was sooo heavy I couldn't hold it up since my chest was still sore from the port placement.  All of those IV bags had to drip through my body before I was able to leave...4 hrs exactly.

 I dressed warmly and even brought a blanket cause they said I would be cold...I was on FIRE most of the time from all the steroids in it.  At one point I was bright red so they had to stop the infusion and check all my vitals before they were sure it was okay to proceed..next time I will wear shorts and t-shirt.

Then if sitting there from 8-2:15 pouring poison into my body wasn't enough...I got to leave with a new friend.  This pump measuring 9"x5" came home with me to administer another drug over a 46 hour period.  Talk about drawing attention to myself carrying this around with wires coming out the top/bottom of my shirt, not to mention the pumping sound it made.  I was hooked up to it the entire time - sleeping, showering, you name it.  Definitely a little bigger than the "it will fit under your shirt and nobody will even know it is there" comment from my oncologist during my consultation!  And this week has been anything but a walk in the park that they made my chemo out to be.  I have been miserably sick all week, barely functioning through each day.  Friday I was throwing up before I could even get to work, so I took some medications and went back to bed for the day.

It is going to be a REALLY long 6 months...I just can't wait for summer vacation so I don't have to get up for work each day and put a fake smile on my face to make it through my day.