A Day to Remember

Today was an important day in my life.  Not only did I start my chemo and radiation, but there was an earthquake felt in Pittsburgh.  I guess I'll never forget this day as 5 years from now I'll be sitting with some friends and they will be remembering the day Pittsburgh experienced an earthquake and I will remember I was receiving my first radiation treatment at that moment.  Maybe it was a message from a higher being!

Today was an interesting day.  I anticipated on being in and out of the hospital in under 40 minutes but that was just not to be.  Everyone I was with was very nice and it's not such a bad place to have to be if you have to just be sitting somewhere.  I am very grateful that I have the port because one little needle stick was all I had to get today.  Some blood was drawn and a tiny tube connected that would later be hooked up to the IV tubing of the pump.  It's nice that I only have to go through that once a week.

Eventually I was hooked up to the chemo which is given through a pump in a fanny pack about the size of a tissue box.

Every once in a while, the pump makes a light noise, much the same as an old camera winding film.  I am sure I will hear it all the time for the next couple of days and then forget about it.  It will take some getting used to to remember to take the pump with me everywhere I go and to figure out how to get dressed every day weaving the tubing through my clothes.  At least I vaguely remember some tricks from nursing school!

Once I was settled in with the pump and we were sure it was running well, the nurse gave me lots of instructions and a ton of books to read.  It must be for people who like to read or have nothing better to do.  The one cool thing about the infusion center is that they have a whole area of snacks including hot chocolate!  Like I said, not a bad place to be if you just have to be sitting around somewhere.

Next I was off to radiation.  It's actually pretty easy.  All I have to do is climb up on the table, lay down, and stay still.  The actual radiation itself takes just a couple of minutes.  I also agreed to the tattoos.  They are so small you wouldn't even know they were tattoos unless I pointed them out to you and it was very quick and painless.  It will be nice to get the old marking scrubbed off.  That is, if I figure out how to shower quickly and easily.