AC Chemo #1

Ok...AC Chemo #1 came and went.  I'm happy to report that 1 week later I feel back to 100% my usual self!  But...it was definitely not a walk in the park.  Here's my experience of the 1st time.

As part of my preparation, my sister Ariel came up and we went out for a pre-chemo dinner to celebrate the next step towards my treatment/recovery.  It was nice having her there and meant a lot to have her there to support Adam and I as we embarked on this new journey.  We got home, packed my chemo bag, and before I knew it, it was time to go to bed to get a full night's rest.

As my luck would have it, it snowed that night before chemo and even though it wasn't bad (not even snow on the roads), people still freak out driving just seeing snow on the grass so traffic was awful.  My 9:30 appointment became 10:30.  It worked out though and we were still one of the first patients there that morning as everyone was running late due to the traffic. 

Upon arriving, I get to go back pretty much right away.  The nurse took my temperature and blood pressure just to make sure everything was right and before I knew it, it was time to start.  I got to have one of the more private bays.  Unfortunately for us, the snow had messed up the television reception so no TV but we came prepared with my Kindle Fire & Netflix. 

The nurse gave me some ice to help numb my port area before they accessed it.  I couldn't use the numbing cream yet because there was still some surgical glue there but honestly, the ice did the same thing.  They accessed the port, pretty painless and to my surprise, they couldn't get blood.  My nurse, Kelly, said this happens sometimes so they flushed it and gave me some Heparin.  Unfortunately that still didn't work.  After a couple of tries, we were on our way downstairs to get a chest x-ray to make sure everything was okay with the port.  Everything turned out fine and they gave me Cath-Flo to see if we could get it working again.  After about 45 minutes it worked!  Thank God!  You know, we went into this with the mentality that hiccups are going to happen along the way but it was a shock to have it happen on the 1st try. 

Soon after that, I was hooked up to some saline followed by steroids and anti-nausea medication.  It must have been about 3:30 by the time we got that going.  All of that went in great and then it was time to start the Adriamycin.  Kelly came in with the chemo that she had to manually push.  It wasn't just another bag they hung on the IV pole.  I have to be honest, it was intimidating a little.  The medication was the color of red Gatorade and watching it go from the syringe Kelly had to my port was like watching seconds of clock tick down.  When it reached my port, I was anticipating some type of pain or feeling but surprise surprise: NOTHING.  Kelly, Adam, Ariel, and I chatted for about 20 minutes and then it was all over.  I felt great still.

Next it was time for the Cytoxin.  Kelly did warn me that we would set it up on a 30 minute drip (as this was one she could hang from the IV pole) and that I may have some sinus pressure, runny nose, and/or a headache.  Near the end, I did feel the sinus pressure and a runny nose but it wasn't that bad and it cleared 10 minutes or so after we were done. 

By now it was about 5:00 or so and Kelly came and gave me another flush and dose of Heparin to flush my port and then we were all set.  It was over.  1 down, 3 to go.  Pretty painless! :) 

We got home and for the rest of the night, I felt pretty good.  When it was time for bed, I just felt a little tipsy but otherwise that was it.  All in all...good news story!

More to come about the days following...