My first chemo was today. I met with the Dr first. I asked about my red face and neck. It’s a side affect of the steroid. He called it ‘flushing’ or something and it’s normal. I asked about being in crowds, I can go the the mall and on the ferry but I have to be really careful because what I need to avoid is bacterial infections, not viral. So the colds and flues that go thru the air conditioner at work are ok if they aren’t bacterial.
It took 2 nurses and 2 tries to get the I.V. in. My veins run away when they see a needle 😦 They’d even put a heating pad on my hand to pump them up, and they were there, nice and big. Till they saw the needle. They gave me saline to hydrate me while we waited for the pharmacy to deliver my cocktail. The first drug they pumped into me took an hour. It was more annoying than painful. Then they flushed it with more saline then the second drug, but it came with bonuses. Ice mitts for my hands and ice packs for my feet. I guess some people get nerve damage-called Neuropathy-so they basically freeze your hands and feet to stop that from happening. That was really uncomfortable! That made the drug going into my system ice cold. That one took an hour too. Then they again flush it with more saline and send me on my way.
The warnings were sprinkled over the 4 hours I was there. Warning me about fevers, take the anti-vomitting medication if I feel it coming on, don’t try and ‘tough it out’ or it’ll be worse. Drink tons of water over the next 2 days at least. One of the nurses gave me her cell number, she says she doesn’t do that for just anybody so I was feeling a little special. And the biggy as far as I’m concerned. I’m toxic. For the next 48 hours. Good thing I don’t live with anyone cause I have to double flush the toilet, wipe it down if I think I’ve ‘missed’ my shot, I’m not a guy but stranger things have happened 🙂 And if I vomit (they use that word a lot) make sure to use rubber gloves to clean up. Then I gotta clean the rubber gloves. And the faucets. My cat won’t come near me right now. So ya, I’m toxic.
Losing my hair will occur around the 3rd to 6th week, so me thinks I’ll be looking at wigs. I’ll go back to my favorite auburn colour. I’m not one of these ‘proud to be bald’ cancer survivors.
My next trip is on the 8th but I have to go in for a blood test on the 7th to make sure my white blood count is high enough to handle another dose. So ya, chemo is killing good cells with the bad.
I also understand the ‘young’ thing. My surgeon keeps telling me I’m young for this. The other 5 people in the room were all 60+. I was the baby.
I feel ok so far except for the brain of mush and the feeling of weakness. And the sore, bruised hand. Apparently if I’m going to ‘vomit’ it’ll start tomorrow and can last 3-5 days. Here’s to hoping I don’t!