Chemo Day Two

Totally different experience today.  I arrived later, 9:00, because I only received one drug today - the chemo drug Taxol.  Port access at 9:30 - this is when they stick a needle in my port to access my veins all day.  It's gross.  I shouldn't have looked - it's like they are sticking a plug into an outlet.  In me.  Not ever looking again.

They drew 2 or 3 vitals of blood to be tested quickly, making sure my WBC (white blood cell) count is good to go for chemo.  Back to the waiting room.  Wait.  I am taken back to get vitals - weight, blood pressure, oxygen levels. The nurse tells me to collect my things and we can head back to infusion a little early.  As I am collecting my bags, my cold-capping-goddess (CCG) friend arrives to help.  Yippee!

We all head back to Infusion Room 4, which I had last week and am now feeling territorial about.  Love the private bathroom.  Low lights.  I thought I would want a window room, but I'll take bathroom over window any day of the week in this situation.  Nothing better to dim the lights and take a nap.

Before CCG friend and I do our thing, we head over to another infusion room to visit a family member of hers.  You see my friend has a family member also in treatment.  The nurses were amused by our attempt at chemo social hour, and we said hi, caught up for a minute, and went back to Infusion Room 4.

CCG friend and I got to work - wet my hair (with this misting bottle that has a continuous mist?!  Think this will get repurposed when I'm done), comb back with wide tooth comb and weird brush, apply conditioner, put blue cap on, put helmet cover on like f***ing pros and back we go.  CCG friend has to head out, we hug, she leaves. I am forever grateful for her love and help.

The 15 minute freeze wasn't as bad as last week - 1. I knew what was coming and 2. I knew it would end.  Set the timer on my phone, put earbuds in, turned on my new Cold Capping Playlist,  and off I went while my infusion nurse (also the same one from last week and am also feeling like I'd like to see her every week and spent time searching for gifts for her online) is loading me up with a pre-infusion cocktail - IV Benadryl and a steroid and another drug.  Sure enough, I start to see the light about 13 minutes in.  Phew.

I'm super sleepy when this is over and nap.  My husband has to walk the dog and has an appointment so he is in and out. Another friend comes to hang with me around 12:30 while my husband takes off; at this point my chemo infusion is done and I just have an hour and 15 minutes left with the cold cap.  My friend kindly watches me nap more (I feel awful that I can't chat, but it's completely impossible to stay awake) and takes me home around 2:00.

Here's the difference - on Chemo Day One, I was in the hospital from 8:00am until 5:00pm.  By 5:00, those pre-infusion drugs were out of my system.  Today, they were not.  I got home, laid down and literally didn't move.  Slept hard until 5:00ish, thus missing the dinner and Boston Speaker Series tonight.  So much for normalcy.

But now I know what my chemo days will look like - Weeks 1, 4, 7, and 10 will be long days at MGH due to the 3 drug cocktail and the cold capping.  The rest are around 5 hours, although I notice from my schedule that these are later morning start times.  Totally understand - the long-appointment people have to start early.  So there you have it.  Week 2 - done.  Taking Ativan to sleep because the steroid is giving me all kinds of energy.  Which I'm hoping carries me over to my 5:30 workout tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned. xo J

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