Getting ready to leave for chemo armored with my "faith, hope, charity" bracelet (thank you Noel and Julie), and my necklace on that says "I CAN do hard things" (thank you Amie).
Just as I was walking to the van to go Nancy Robinson came to watch the kids and gave me this awesome shirt to empower me during chemo.
All hooked up. I had no idea it would take several hours just to do the premeds which were Benadryl, Anti-nausea meds, steroids, pepcid, and saline. They have learned that it is best to have these meds already in your system to combat the myriads of side effects.
Drea was with me most of the day which was so soothing. She has such a cheerful presence which eased my anxieties. We brought our family photobooks we recently finished and looked at each others. She got me a great lunch at Einsteins (which was the last full meal I was able to eat for the rest of the week) and we talked and laughed together. Edee Sweeney stopped by and showed me some awesome 80's pics of her family. We then laughed about the great 80's style and its mean comeback.
This was a little disconcerting...after the couple hours of premeds it was time to administer the chemo drugs. She had to get another nurse to okay it on the computer as she scanned in the bag with a "biohazard" label on it. She then put on a "biohazard" gown and double-gloved her hands. I gulped and said, "here we go", and "no turning back" now as I reminded myself of the strong confirmation Kelly and I both received that this was the right way to go. It made me that much more grateful for my holistic doc Dan Fazio who has me geared up with many supplements and accupuncture to keep my immune system from being too compromised. I was amazed at how I felt a startling difference from the premeds to the chemodrugs. Within 5 minutes of the chemo drugs going I started to feel queezy and cold and a general toxicity flowing through my body. It is hard to explain but there was a definite difference.
This was my proud self as I heard the beeps indicating that the last of the meds were finished!
Kelly came for the last hour so that Drea could pick up her kids. This last hour (after being there 4.5 hours already) was really neat. All the other ladies doing chemo around me started opening up about their experiences and giving me tips across the board from using Latisse to spare your lashes from falling out to how long to plan on being sick.
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