February 13, 2012 - 1st day of Chemo

February 13th - Well, the dreaded anticipation is over and....drum roll please!
Overall it wasn't so bad although a very tiring day plus I didn't puke!  So that's a huge bonus!!

I checked in at 9:00am  up at Gonda 10 East along with my group of peeps (Don and Marie) and we did not get out of there until 12:15ish.  Long morning to say the least.

Here is regiment that I received today:
1st - steroids via IV.
2nd- anti-nausea meds via IV.
3rd - Benadryl via IV.  This seemed like they were pushing this into me at a rate comparable to the speed of sound!  I got really tired - fast and just a little dizzy. The reasoning behind the top three drugs is to offset the awesome side effects that can happen with the Taxol and Carboplatin drugs. (Diarrhea, constipation, nausea, fatigue, etc)
4^th – saline (IV) as they were waiting on the Taxol & Carboplatin from the pharmacy.
5th – Taxol (chemo drug).  This one went in without any issues.
6th – Carboplatin (chemo drug).   This one made me really sleeping.  I think I even fell asleep to a point of even waking myself up with a little snort and drool coming down my cheek.  LOL - this even makes me laugh!!  And very attractive - to say the least!  When I woke up, Marie was just looking at me shaking her head – bless her heart!  I could not see Don’s reaction as he was sitting kind of more up by my head – but I can only imagine or on the other hand, maybe he’s use to it after all these years being together! Gotta Love him!!

They sent me home with some anti-nausea drugs, if needed, and the ABT-888 clinical trial drug which is in a pill form that I have to take two times per day/every day.  At home I was still rather sleepy so I laid down for a couple of hours basically passed out.  Other than being tired, I haven’t had any other side effects (knock on wood!) but my day is not yet finished.  We’ll see how the night goes. 

Again, a great big thank you to Don (the greatest husband ever) and Marie (the greatest daughter ever) for coming with me to my 1^st chemo treatment.  The long journey has begun!

Also to a couple other guests while I was there…Ann Oldenburg – my pink ribbon mentor, who I got to actually meet for the first time.  I have talked to her via email & phone but not in person.  Not sure how I got so blessed to have Ann there with me along my journey but I’m glad God placed her with me!  JoAnn Williams – Marie’s friend Amanda’s mom, who I spoke about on a previous post.  We chatted a bit about my morning and how her treatments/surgeries were going.  Keep JoAnn also in your prayer as her breast cancer journey is not quite complete. 

Also thanks to those that emailed and texted me this morning with thoughts and prayers of support – Mike (brother in law), Mary (mother-in-law), Bill (my son), Cathy (my daughter-in-law) & Sharon (sister) and Melissa (co-worker). 

More to come!