Chemo 1 - Day 1

Tuesday 29th January,2013

So after 3 failed attempts at starting chemo due to tooth infections and colds, I was finally given the go ahead today. YAY!!! ( Yes, that was sarcastic)
I arrived at the chemo unit at 9:00am and after seeing the doctor, I was introduced to my chemo nurse Teresa. She started by making sure I was comfortable and asking me how I was feeling.
Teresa then had a look at my veins and I think it's fair to say that she was not impressed. I have to admit though my veins are pretty rubbish. To try and open my veins up a bit and make them a bit more visible, Teresa placed a heat pad on my arm. After about 45 minutes she was confident that a vein was actually there, which was good news all round as cancer would have been the last of my worries otherwise.
By 10:00am the IV was all set up and I was given a saline drip to warm me up slowly. Good move.
About 10:30am and its time for my anti sickness medicine. This is a steroid by the name of dexamethasone and its in a bag and given to me via the drip. I can feel myself starting to feel a little bit jittery but I'm sure this is my anxiety starting to kick in. I adjust my chair so that I can put my feet up and I start putting into practice my relaxation techniques. Thankfully this works and I'm soon feeling fine again.
11:45am and its time for the chemo. As the chemo is three different drugs, I was only expecting there to be three syringes. I got that wrong. It was nine syringes.

OH MY GOD!!!

These were actually administered by Teresa so I had the pleasure of her company all through this stage.
We started with the red coloured drug first. This is Epirubicin and will be the reason why my wee will be pink for the next couple of days. This felt a little cold going in so Teresa placed the heat pad back onto my arm and this really helped.
The next drug in was Cyclophosphamide. This left a funny smell in my nose for a few minutes. A bit like strawberries but not quite. Once this was all in then the Fluorouracil was administered. There were no effects with this drug.
This whole process took roughly one hour and I was all done by about 12:45pm. Teresa talked me through each step and let me know which strange sensations might occur so that I didn't get any nasty surprises. She was absolutely fantastic and I did ask if I could bring her home with me
but sadly the NHS don't supply this service.
I forgot to mention that while all this was happening hubby went to the loo. He pulled the red cord thinking that it was the light switch. *tuts* *rolls eyes*. Three nurses immediately came running in and started banging on the door. I sat with my head in my hands but the nurses were very good about it. I think hubby was disappointed when they didn't try to resuscitate him though.

OH THE SHAME!!

Teresa then went off to get my goody bag of meds to take home with me. This consists of....

* 7 injections which I have to give myself once a day to boost my white blood cells. These can cause some bone pain but I start these tomorrow.

* 1 ondansetron tablet to take at 6pm for nausea and sickness.

* Metoclopramide to take when needed for nausea and sickness

* Dexamethasone tablets, which are steroids. Again these help with nausea and sickness and also to help my body cope a little bit better with the shock it has just received.

* Lorazepam to take if needed to help calm me down

Once all this was explained to me I was allowed to go home.

3:00pm I keep feeling hot and clammy but otherwise well. I keep waiting for something to happen.

5:30pm feeling pretty much the same. No nausea or sickness yet. Hoping that it stays this way but very much early days.

9:00pm sense of smell is not my friend right now. Had salad for tea and the smell of beet root is in my nose and its making me feel a little off. Already feel that I may never be able to eat beet root again.

Today has definitely not been as bad as I had feared. Hopefully this will continue into tomorrow.
Fingers crossed.