1st Cycle of Chemo-ALMOST DONE!
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend and a delicious thanksgiving, celebrating with friends, family... We had a delicious feast at our friends Rachel and Brian's, celebrating thanksgiving with some of their family. Last weekend, I said goodbye to my older sister, Libby, who was visiting for a week from South Carolina. The timing of Libby's visit was perfect because she was able to join Dan and me, when I was administered my first dose of vincristine, which is the only chemo drug that I don't take orally. We were off to a rocky start when I had a mini borderline panic attack as the nurse was preparing to place my IV (never had a panic attack so I'm not totally sure if this meets the criteria, because I kind of consider myself "cool as a cucumber"). This drug is given after an anti emetic is administered through an IV. Fortunately, I do not need a port, and fortunately, this is given via IV push (like an injection into the IV) rather than hanging an IV bag and sitting for hours while it is infused. The entire dose of the antiemetic and the chemo drug should have taken about 1-2 hours to administer, but my crazy talking to the nurse about possibly vomiting or passing out had the nurse thinking an ativan might calm my nerves. We also tried a meditation app, Headspace. All week I felt great, until about 4 days later when I felt flu-like, muscle and head achy, tooth pain (weird), which were soothed by some tylenol and warm liquids (vegetable soup and hot tea). The nurse and my doc said these were expected side effects. Everyone took great care of me all weekend-I'm lucky to be in such loving hands! My mom is scheduled to visit during my next vincristine dose, and they only happen twice per cycle, about every 3 weeks.
With the exception of that minor vincristine episode, the two other oral chemo drugs haven't been too bad. I have been taking an antiemetic on and off when I take the oral meds, but I've been able to continue with my exercise routine. And my body and brain thank me when I'm working out. I feel alive and strong when I'm exercising, and that does wonders for me![...]
