What a Day!

Wow, yesterday was..well, interesting.
It was my first session of chemo treatment, and I was scheduled to start up at 8:30. The session was to last six hours, so that would have meant getting out at 2:30-3pm at the latest. Boy was I wrong...

I arrived with my DH at the hospital where our friend CC was waiting. She's volunteered to be with me at all my sessions just to sit with me and give me encouragement when she can. (Thanks again, CC!) So I registered and sat in the waiting area. After waiting til about 8:45, we were called into the Infusion Clinic.

Now the procedure when you go into this is as follows:

• Get the vitals checked out (weight, blood pressure, temperature & heart rate).
• Get the IV set up (or if you have a port in your body for these sessions, make sure it's clear so the drugs can get into your system smoothly).
• Get a group of pre-meds before the main drugs. These are to prevent nausea and allergic reactions to the chemo 'cocktail'. There's also one for anxiety (yea!).
• After all that, which takes an hour, THEN the chemo starts. My first one, called Taxil, was scheduled for 3 hours, then the Carbo was a 1 hour drip.
  And we're done.
  
  So first of all I became a pin cushion again as it seems they need to do an unexpected blood draw because the paperwork I had when I did the blood draw last week left off 3 tests I should have had. (Ugh!) Finally they called a guy from another department down to both do the blood draw and set up the IV. (Thank you, Rondy - my new hero!) Think in the future I'll sign up for the port.
  
  So after the pre-meds I was sleepy, and actually went to sleep. My DH had to go rest, so CC was there to witness what happened next. They set up the Taxil and were increasing the dosage by 5cc every 5 minutes. It was going smoothly until they went to 20cc. I had a sudden sensation of pressure in my chest and woke up out of a dead sleep. CC called one of the nurses over, and they stopped the IV immediately! Apparently my face flushed deep red and my forehead was sweating profusely. I was definitely having the sensation of my chest being pushed in, but when the drug stopped getting into my system the pressure travelled down my back and then faded away. I felt like I would throw up, so CC & I made the trip to the restroom where I took care of business - no vomiting, thank God! - and went back to my chair. After talking to my doctor, they gave me additional medication to handle the allergic reaction and restarted the Taxil, but just increasing it by 2.5cc's instead of 5. That did the trick! Of course that meant increasing the time I had to stay there by 1.5 hours.
  
  When my Chemo Angel had to go pick up her hubby, my DH came back and stayed with me for the rest of the session. After I told him what happened he wasn't leaving my side for anything! The remaining time went well, except for the LOUDNESS in the room. Unfortunately the nurses had a tendency to yell across the room and talk really loudly on the phone. And the loudest was the one seated directly across from me! All of us had to take turns praying for her, as her attitude was exactly the wrong one for a first-time patient to have to deal with. There were three of us 1st-timers, and we were all assigned to her!! (In her defense, there were way too little nurses for that department, and hopefully they'll get some help soon. In the meantime, pray for Nancy, as she'll be the one I get to deal with for the whole time.)
  
  When the second drug was finished, it was 7:30 and we were finally able to go home. As we left, we saw Nancy waiting for her husband to pick her up at the bus stop. She looked down and definitely in need of a hug. So we'll have something for her next time...
  
  We got home at 8pm, and were finally able to see the texts I got during the day (the phone reception doesn't work in the clinic) - thanks, folks!
  
  So, next time I'm bringing some full-size headphones so I can block out the noise and focus on the music/movie I'm watching. Thank God for your prayers, cause I don't want to think about what might have happened with that allergic reaction.
  
  So, they say that any side effects from the treatments could show up in the next 24-72 hours, and I have some stuff I want to do during that time. We're praying that nothing comes up during this time. After that, I should be fine. So, until next time, God bless you all, and stay vertical!
  
  "Look to the Lord and his strength;seek his face always." - Psalm 105:4 (NIV)
    always.