I've gotten quite a response from the blog, more than I would have ever thought. Lots of family and friends I haven't seen or spoken to in years have been commenting, sending facebook messages or calling. I appreciate every single one, thanks very much! I did forget to mention thus far that I have an excellent prognosis though. Meaning that even though the cancer has spread to my lymph nodes it is still curable 98% of the time. Not too many cancer patients can say that so I'm very blessed. So no one needs to lose sleep over this, I will be fine!
I started chemo today. Adrienne and I showed up for my appointment at 9:45. We waited in the waiting area for a while before a nurse came and led us back to the chemo room. Today I got a little private room the size of a walk in closet but tomorrow I may be in a common area with other patients, it depends on what's open. Friends can come and sit with me during the chemo but usually just one at a time because it's pretty cramped and lots of patients try to sleep the time away so big crowds of friends are discouraged.
The process itself was pretty painless. If you don't know how chemo is administered here's a little lesson(this may not be entirely accurate but it's how I understand it to be). Some drugs can be taken in pill form, none of mine can so it's all injected. They can inject the drugs via a "port" which is surgically implanted in your chest. This means fewer needles but can have complications because it's in you for so long. They can also run a "pick line" which is usually inserted into you're upper arm and I think a small tube runs in your vein towards your heart like a port would. This again means fewer needles because they can leave it in for a long time. Or in my case they just run an IV. My chemo is only 9 weeks so this I guess is the best option. I came home today with mine wrapped in gauze and hopefully it will be good for a few days or perhaps all 5. It may get clogged though and then they would have to start a new one tomorrow.
I assumed that because today was my first day that I would get a big orientation, some VIP treatment, all that. My nurse was excellent and answered any questions I had but generally it was all business. I went in, sat down and my nurse started the IV process. She wrapped my arm in hot towels to get my veins nice and fat, went over the drugs and started the IV. The first drugs were for nausea, then a saline flush. Then my cisplatn which is essentially platinum. This is the big one, it kills the cancer. That took an hour or so on top of the nausea drugs which took under a half an hour. Then another saline flush and then the etoposide. That was followed up with another saline flush and then my IV was wrapped up and Adrienne and I busted out of there.
It really wasn't bad at all. There was wi-fi so I could check my email and watch netflix, etc. The volunteers were by often offering juice and cookies, soup for lunch, blankets, etc. Cancer Care Manitoba is really good at what they do. I'm home now hours later and I don't feel any side effects, so day one went well. I know tommorrow can and probably will be very different. As the drugs build up in my system I expect to get more nausea, feel more tired and what ever else comes with it but for now I feel good.
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