Day 1

The day we have all been waiting for... at least for the past week. I arrived at the chemo suite at 930am. My mom flew in from Montana on an early flight to be here with me through this journey. We started with a blood draw and put a needle in my port. The portacath is healing nicely, but it is a little weird having a needle in your chest during the infusions. Got my vitals checked and onto the chemo suite.

The suite is nice. About 30-40 chairs for patients and family members. Today my nurse was Bev. She is very sweet and really helped with the transition and did a great job of explaining everything as it was happening. I started with an injection of a anti-nausea drug and then she hung another anti-nausea drug. Following that, I got a steroid that infused over 20 minutes or so. Then the chemo drugs were infused. Today I got Etoposide and Cisplatin and a whole bunch of fluids. The cispatin is pretty harsh on the kidneys, so they make sure to flush you right out.



     I was there in all 6 hours today. Most days wont be that long. I kept busy by reading a little, watching some videos and taking a substantial nap. There were a few ladies sitting on either side of me, but I did not talk to them. I got overwhelmed one time reading the kind words of a friend. Its truly humbling how much people love me and are truly cheering me on.  I know its okay to cry and be emotional. I am getting to the point where its okay; i am just not a pretty cryer :)

We came home and went on a walk with my mom. We walked about 2 miles to the post office (i had a lot of thank you notes to mail). The walk was very slow most of the time. It really felt good to get my heart pumping and lungs expanding. When I got home I just relaxed and worked on eating some food. The worst side-effects for me right now are a terrible metallic taste in my mouth and a pretty substantial headache. I feel really lucky to not be feeling nauseous right now (knock on wood).

Tomorrow my appointment is a 930am and the infusion should last 4-5 hours. Continuing to just take 1 day at a time. Thank you all so much for the support. Its truly the little things that are getting me through this journey.

Love,
Jyndia