I'm writing today from Willamette Valley Cancer Institute during my infusion. I think I have 1/2 hour to 40 minutes left and I finished my book. Josh made truffles to bring today to help celebrate our 8 year anniversary. Such a sweetheart & YEAH for chocolate!
I thought I would write about what it is like to come for these appointments, I don't think that I had shared that before. I go in the mornings on Tuesdays. Typically I have a hard time falling asleep the night before or wake-up and can't get back to sleep. I don't feel particularly anxious anymore. I know what to expect with my drug combo now, this will be my 3rd treatment of these drugs, but it is hard to sleep right before none the less. I guess that part of it is having to deal with my diagnosis, the in-the-face part of my cancer. You can't pretend that you aren't fighting for your life at a cancer center will all the other patients hooked up to a tree of chemicals.
I wake up in the morning and have to get moving. Typically this is to pack all the kids up and send them out the door with my mom who takes all 4 of them to my sister's house to spend the night. It's a nuthouse in the morning before treatment: sleepy-headed children, breakfast to make, pack a suitcase & the diaper bag, meals for the day and the next morning. After I get everyone situated with breakfast and mostly ready I get ready for the day myself. I take pre-medications the day before and morning of to prevent nausea and allergic reaction to the powerful drugs. Each time I need to bring lunch and things to do, so I/Josh packs up food. I also bring a pack with books, cards, my bible and journal, and a blanket & pillow. The drugs are delivered at room temperature or slightly below. 70 degree fluids going into a body at 98.6 degrees means that most cancer patients are cold, if you aren't already from the bald head and the cool room (in order to decrease germs).
The Cancer Center I go to is about 35 minutes away. Josh & I have been driving down and stopping for a coffee treat to bring to my appointment. We have to check in downstairs before heading up to the second floor where I wait for my name to be called for labs. When I am called I go back to a blood drawing area where they take 2-3 vials that tell them how anemic I am, my white blood cell counts, etc. Afterwards we sit in the waiting room again to wait for our name to be called to go back and meet with our Oncologist.
I see Dr. Benjamin Cho here, a wonderful man and a great Oncologist. He genuinely cares about how I am doing and my quality of life, besides being exceptionally smart and skilled at his job. We are blessed to have found someone close with his skills and bedside manner. We talk about how my last week has been, my fatigue level, blood cell counts, my constant cold, and any other symptoms either of the treatment or might be signs that the stray cancer cells that we are trying to kill with the Chemo might have taken up residence somewhere else.
After visiting the Oncologist it is back to the waiting room to wait, again. This time, when we are called we head back to the Chemo room. The nurse assigned to me shows me to the area she is working, to a sort of comfortable chair, and then enters my orders into a computer. There is an on-site Pharmacy that mixes up my drugs fresh for every time. I have a port placed in my chest that they access to start an IV with saline. A port is a flat metal and plastic disk under the surface of my skin. A needle goes into the center of it to access a line from my chest all the way up into my neck, that then inserts into my jugular vein. This is there because the Chemo drugs that I am being given damage veins and the smaller veins in your arm just aren't up for the job.
After the IV is going strong the nurse starts all of my meds to stop adverse reactions to the Chemo drugs. The major side effects of the one I am on now are allergic reaction, nerve damage and fatigue. So far I have been able to avoid the nerve damage :).
Then it is just waiting and passing the time. From when we show up to when we leave is typically 5 hours or so. Speaking of, I just finished my treatment!! 5 more Taxols to go.
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