I get up around 7 to get ready to leave for chemo by 8:30. I cook some bacon, Cathy whips up a frittata and we have a breakfast fit for chemo champions. I pack up my chemo bag with chemo necessities:
- Blanket (one that Debbie, Amanda, and Jennifer bought me)
- Chapstick
- Hand lotion
- Water
- Socks for my hands (the ice treatment)
I make sure I wear nice warm fuzzy socks, also courtesy of my sister in law and my nieces, to help with the ice treatment on my feet. Worked like a charm.
I whip out the lidocaine squeeze a big glob over my port, then cover with plastic wrap an hour before my appointment. That also worked like a charm. Didn't feel it at all when they put in the multipurpose IV - blood draw, flush drip, steroids, Benadryl, anti-nausea stuff, Pepcid, and finally the king of the show, Taxol.
Cathy and I arrive a little before nine. They get us in right away and start the blood draws for my labs. Again, while waiting on lab results, I gotta dance. The guy next to me laughed, the guy and his wife across from me left. They left!! I wonder if I'm going to get the "do not dance" lecture next time I go in. I'll fight that one. What's on the playlist today? A little of everything:
I bet very few of you have heard all of these. Check em out! Next week I should have some hip hop in there. I am hoping to learn a few hip hop steps from a much younger friend of mine (I could be her Mom) so I don't look like such a goober. Course, on old women whipping out hip hop may break the goober scale. Whatever! Time to dance!!
In between songs, a massage therapist stopped by and offered me a hand and/or foot massage. I chose the hand massage this time around. IT WAS GREAT!! Apparently, there is a group that comes in two or three times a week to give complementary hand/feet massages to patients going through chemo.
Did you know there are licensed massage therapists that specialize in massage for cancer patients?
The oncology massage therapists will adapt massage techniques for:
- fatigue and peripheral neuropathy
- low blood cell counts and blood clots
- bone metastases and bone pain
- medication and medical devices
- radiation or surgery
- removal of lymph nodes
- lymphedema
- late effects of treatments
For more information, please go to this site:
You can also reach them by email at oncologymassagealliance@gmail.com or give them a call at 512-799-2655. I'm going to see what my doctor can do to prescribe this so maybe insurance will cover it. Some do, some don't.
Blood work came back and all systems look good. Still no signs of blood counts going down to the "stay away from crowds" level. I am amazing myself on how well I am handling chemo! To date, the only side effects are occasional constipation and insomnia. I have medication for both.
Believe it or not, we finish by 11:00 AM. Yes, your read that right - we finished within 2 hours! Knock me over with a feather! On the way out, I ran into a friend from work who had an appointment with Dr. Kocs at 11:00. She knew I was there, so they let her in so she could say Hi. I ran into her at the infusion desk checking on where I was! It was so great to see her! We hugged, I introduced her to Cathy, then we headed into the lobby. My friend is also a minister, so she wanted to pray with us. It was quite touching and moving. Then she goes to her appointment and I head home.
Another chemo day down!
Here is me with my chemo bag. Note the socks, sweater, and blanket from Debbie and her girls, Jennifer and Amanda, and my hat from Morgan! I need to take a pic of the blanket Morgan made for me that I took to chemo the week before, it's beautiful and warm!
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