And Stay Away! Chemo

Even though the pathology from my surgery came back negative, I am going through this next round of chemo.  I know for myself, I need to make sure that I did everything I could to make sure the cancer is really gone and hopefully will stay away.  That's what this round of chemo is about.  At dinner the night before I started chemo, my friend came up with the name, "And Stay Away Chemo" and the name stuck.

Earlier this week I packed up my bag to bring to the infusion center.  I had asked my fellow WhatNexter's on the ACS web site what to bring and they were right on target.  I packed my own blanket as well as my laptop, some activity books, a book and my iPod.  My friend packed a lunch with lots of yummy snacks and treats.  I was set to go.

I decided to go to a different infusion center for this round of chemo since I had some issues at the other center.  I was a bit nervous as I didn't know what to expect even though I had a tour of the infusion center several weeks ago.  I was assigned a room and immediately greeted by my nurse.  I got a tour of my room and I could just tell this was going to be a better experience.  My nurse took the time to lay out the expectations of the day and then continued to explain things to me throughout the day.

Overall, the day went very smoothly.  My port was accessed and my blood was drawn to make sure my levels were good for me to receive the chemo.  When the results came back, my nurse took the time to explain which results were most important and what levels my oncologist wanted to in order to chemo on my schedule.  Next it was an infusion of pre-medications to prevent a reaction and nausea.  We waited a half hour after the pre-meds and then the chemo started.  The chemo ran for two hours and then I got a push of another chemo drug.  After that, the homecare company came to hook me up to the pump and I was on my way.

I think I was at the infusion center for a total of five hours.  Despite packing a bag with lots of things, I really didn't feel like doing anything.  I was able to watch Anderson on TV while I was there but that was about it.  I napped for a little while and played some games on my cell phone.  I am just not good at just sitting.  I am happy I made the switch to the new infusion center.

When I got home, I was feeling tired but not sleepy.  About an hour after I got home, I started to feel some numbness in my knees and forearms.  A common side effect to the chemo is neuropathy in the extremities.  The other thing I noticed was extreme sensativity to cold in my hands and feet.  I was warned but I forgot.  I washed my hands without letting the water warm up and boy did I pay the price.  It was like my hands were in ice water and just burned.  And then I forgot about drinking cold beverages and the side effects.  I took a sip of water at dinner and I thought I was swallowing glass.  Lessons learned!

I was concerned about being able to go to work the next day based on how I was feeling going to bed.  My knees and forearms were still numb and my stomach was a bit sour.  Sometime in the middle of the night, the side effects passed and I felt OK by the time I had to get up and go to work.  I did OK at work on Thursday but as soon as I got home, I went right to bed.  I got a good 10 hours of sleep on Thursday night and felt pretty good on Friday.

Friday, I met the homecare nurse at home in the afternoon to be disconnected from the pump.  It was nice to be free from the pump.  The nurse spent a lot of time with me to make sure I was going OK and making sure I understood all the side effects of the treatment.  Friday night, I called it a night early and looking forward to a week and a half with no chemo.

This is going to be a long couple of months but something I can get through.  One down, seven to go.