1st Chemo Day!

If you are keeping up, you know I had a little meltdown yesterday while waiting to go to my first chemo appointment. My family started reaching out early with encouraging messages, wishing me  luck, telling me "You got this". To be honest, what really had me bawling was when my son in Oregon sent me a text wishing me luck … with a picture of his shaved head. I lost it. It took me a minute holding on the Hubby before I gained my composure.

 Mike and I arrive at the appointed time. First stop, of course, is to the finance office. Stopping for a rant: I know they are only doing their job, but don't cancer patients have enough on their plate without having to deal with hospitals, imaging centers, and doctors with their hand out saying "Show Me the Money" every time you show up for an appointment? Fortunately, I know my rights. With all the testing and biopsies the past three weeks, I have reached my out of pocket max on services! I politely told the finance people that I wasn't paying them a dime right now (after January, a different story) as I have reached my out of pocket limit. She agreed that if I paid when I didn't have to, it will take months, without interest, to get it back. Not interested in that little game. Also, remember that in assessing when your reach out of pocket max is based on first in first out, so the early bird gets your money. Those that dilly dally when filing the claim should not get money from you. If you are expecting several bills, you CAN push back and tell them to bill your insurance first and you will be happy to pay whatever you owe after that. That little speech has never failed me and saved me thousands. So, those of you dealing with a major health event, know your rights. End of rant.

Sorry for the interruption. After the visit with finance we went back to the waiting room to be called into the infusion room. It wasn't long before they called my name. And it starts - EEK! They assign me a recliner, let Mike know which chair is his, and off we go.

Of course the first thing they do is take your vitals. Surprisingly, my blood pressure was better than I expected, 128/79; it was 138/96 when we came in for chemo training (that makes sense - not). After a bit, my chemo nurse comes over to get me started. Typically, they take blood (out of my new port - save the veins!) and wait on blood count results before continuing, but they decided to use my blood work from earlier in the week. That probably saved us 20 to 30 minutes. Then the nurse inserted the IV into my new port. I'm not gonna lie, with that area still swollen and sore, I was expecting some major pain. The nurse told me to relax. Then she said, "you're not breathing; breathe!". When she was sure I was breathing, she told me to take a deep breath and BAM, in goes the IV. It didn't hurt a bit. I felt pressure but no pain. Whew. Show time!

They start you off with three different drip bags: anti-nausea, Benadryl, and then steroids. With every bag, I kept asking, what's in that bag, when are you adding the Benadryl, is that the steroids, where's the Taxol. The nurse grinned, Hubby laughed. The nurse told me to lay back and relax, quit fighting the Benadryl (that's why you see so many patients sleeping; it isn't cuz they are super sick, it's cuz they are letting the Benadryl take them away). I was never able to master that. Hubby told me I was trying to Project Manage my chemo. I would try to argue the point, but I'm sure he was right. We joked about it with the nurse the rest of the session. They even joked about who would draw the short straw next week.

The big surprise not covered in chemo training is that they were going to put my hands and feet into ice for the whole 1.5 hours of Taxol drip. Oh Hell No! Oh Hell Yes … this is not optional and is for my own good. One of the common side effects is your nails can turn black and potentially fall off. Gross! By putting your hands and feet in ice, it stops the Taxol from reaching your nails and minimizes the risk of nail damage. Fine - freeze my hands and feet. I had socks on so I tolerated that pretty well. But my hands? They were hurting within minutes, and I mean almost in tears hurting. I was allowed to take them out about 5 minutes at a time. I was told that next time I could wear cotton gloves. Would have been good to know ahead of time - you know, setting correct expectations. I am definitely purchasing cotton gloves before my next appointment.

Taxol drip done, we get unplugged, load up and off we go. We are out of there a little after 2; I was expecting 3 to 4. Good thing. After lunch, I had to nap - I finally succombed to the Benadryl. I slept until 5:30, then get up, change and head to my grandson's football game. BTW - I get to the game and I was met with a second shaved head - a present from my son-in-law. My family - they warm my heart every day.

I survived my first day of Chemo!