My father and I arrived early in the morning at Roswell Park. First I had to get my blood work done, then go to see my lovely Oncologist. I was scheduled to see her at 9:40 am and start my chemo at 2:30. The office staff were surprised that my time slot for chemo was so late in the day, they were not satisfied with it. So instead of starting my ever, so anticipated attack later in the afternoon, I would be in my chemo chair by NOON. My anxiety went through the roof at this point. I was in no rush to start this deadly attack on my body, but my doctor insisted.
My mother had finally arrived, and traded places with my dad. He was free to leave and run some errands. The doctor assured us that waiting would make no difference. With that being said, we made our way downstairs to the Infusion Clinic to register for my first assault. My sister Anna, was on her way from Toronto, did not appreciate the schedule change. But she made it just in time!
My chemo chair pager
waiting for my chemo throne
For the amount of people waiting in line to get their chemotherapy, I was surprised they moved so quickly. Unpleasantly surprised. After registering, we were ordered to go back into the waiting area and wait for the BUZZER to ring. That would be the signal for my toxic infusion to start. I barely waited 10 minutes before being paged.
The buzzer went off, my heart stopped. I wanted to run away from all the nerves and emotions that were running through my body. But I couldn’t. This is what I have decided. This was my fate. The dreaded chemo would have to have it’s best of me, but not for long.
My first day of chemo was a great day, everything was working out for me. I was able to move through the blood test line quickly, didn’t wait long for my oncologist, got my chemo time moved up be a few hours.. When they took me back into the Infusion Clinic I had great luck, I received my own private room!! I think the ladies at the registration desk gave me that room because they knew it was my first time. Such nice people.
Not long after being settled into my private suite, my Chemo nurse popped in and introduced herself. She informed me that we would begin shortly.
Before any pricking began, I informed my nurse of my anxious feelings and she was able to help. She provided me with an anti-emetic pill that also had an anti-anxiety affect, which would make me feel oh-so-calm. SCORE!
She then made her way to accessing my Medi-port. Thank goodness for this creation! The toxic drugs that were to be administered into my body would not burn my sensitive veins, instead they would go straight into my bloodstream without burning away my vasculature system.
First thing first, the lovely nurse dosed me with two powerful antiemetic drugs, which were supposed to prevent nausea for up to 3 days. After 15-20 minutes of each IV bag, I would be infused with the Scarlett cocktail (Adriamycin). This is a dangerous drug. It is mostly known for leaving patients with nausea, an irritating side effect that young women (ME) feel the worst of.
Medi-port accessed!
My Scarlett cocktail
20 minutes of the Adriamycin infusion and I was ready for the last drug. Cytoxan, another angry drug that would leave me feeling nauseous for the days to come. This one would be dripped into me like a regular IV drug.
And it was over. It took almost 2 hours for the toxic babies to be infused into my system. I left feeling normal. A little sedated from the anxiety meds.
I jumped into the car with Anna, while my mom followed us back to our house in her car. It was a beautiful, sunny day. So far all of my days that involved this agonizing process have been sunny and warm. A wonderful sign from the heavens that all will be well.
Later on in the evening, Nikita would be arriving to spend some time with me. Unfortunately, I could not pick him up from the airport because I was feeling sick. The next few days would have me feeling tired and nauseous. Thank God that there is medicine to treat these awful side effects, otherwise I’d never stop complaining.