Kelly, that was her name, accessed my port, took come blood and then inserted the IV in preparation for the chemo.
Next, we went and sat in an office and waited until about 9:20 for the doctor to finish his hospital rounds. We chatted with him for awhile - my blood tests and echocardiogram both looked good - so [Doctor -"any questions?"], [me -"no"], [Doctor -"Ok, let's go."]
I went back to my chair and they began with a saline solution, that dripped for the entire treatment. The first bag of meds was an anti-nausea medicine called Edmen. She showed me the bag - and that it had my name on it, before she hooked it up.
Second bag was also an anti-nausea med called Aloxi
Third bag was Dexamethasone which helps the first two work better - it is a steroid. Each new bag was shown to me with my name on it, as well as the name of the drug.
Here is what my port looks like when it is hooked up:
While those 3 bags are emptying, it is time to sit and wait. So I did crossword puzzles:
Here's one that shows the lovely view behind me - snowy Mt. Timp!
I also ate lunch and drank some juice somewhere along the way. I began a book, but kept falling asleep, so gave that up.After the 3 bags were done then serious meds came. First, the nurse got me a class of ice chips and a spoon and told me to start eating it. The cold in my mouth helps prevent mouth sores, which is a common side-affect of the chemo drugs. Because the chemo is so toxic, the nurse sits and pushes it in a little at a time - making sure it isn't leaking out anywhere - it burns away surrounding tissue! Pushing is good!!! There were 2 vials of this red medicine that she had to push in - it took, probably 10 minutes or so. I munched on my chips and chatted with the nurse. I did get cold so I bundled up in my lovely "chemo" blanket. This was made and donated to me from the Sister Survivors support group that I joined. Isn't beautiful - and so comforting! Thank you ladies!!!
I finished my ice chips. But, the saline solution was still dripping in I got tired so:
That was it. I made appointments for the next chemo etc. and we went home. I took a nap. I felt fine, really, when I woke up, but Kent was nervous about leaving me alone, so when he went to work my sweet friend Yvonne came over until she had to go to work. We had such a fun time chatting, catching up on all that we had missed on our walks together. She brought me another library book to read. It was nice - thanks Yvonne!
After she left I took a chair out front and just enjoyed smelling my apple blossoms and soaking up the sun. I also got a package in the mail - letters and cards from my Primary kids in Jerusalem. What fun that was!! I'll take a picture of a few and post them tomorrow. I also had a nice visit with my next-door neighbor Gisella.
After dinner, I went to my first support group meeting. They meet in one of the offices in James Town on University Avenue in Provo.
It was their 1-year birthday from when they were organized. They went over what they had done in the past year and how they got started in the first place. Then one of the survivors and her friend helped us sing the song "I Will Survive" - with different words. The friend had written the new, more appropriate words - she was good and it was a lot of fun.
We also made our own facial scrub and tried it out. It felt great!!! We mixed 1/2 c. brown sugar with 1/2 c. white sugar, then added 1/4 c. olive oil until it was like wet sand. Then we stirred in 1 tsp. of vanilla. We all tried on our hands - putting it on the face may cause some of it to get eaten!!! I thought smelled like chocolate chip cookies.
We had birthday cake and I had a chance to talk to a couple of people about their own experiences. Most of the said that their first day of chemo was fine, too, it would the next couple that would be bad. In fact as we were walking out to our cars - 2 of them said "We'll be thinking about you tomorrow." Kind of ominous.
Friday, May 13th - THE DAY AFTER!!! I slept great. I did have to set an alarm to wake myself up and go to the bathroom. I am supposed to go every 2 hours and then once during the night and then as soon as I wake up in the morning.
Anyway, I got up, showered, had a small breakfast and Kent and I went for a short walk. It is so beautiful out! We ran into some good friends, who gently scolded me for having not blogged with yesterday's chemo. I'M ON IT!
Daughter Sarah and her cute twins, Lexi & Crash came to keep me company until school. They, lucky them, got to take me to get my Nulasta shot at the hospital. The shot itself - tiny prick, nothing else - but a 40 minute wait time for my support group.
We stopped at Kneaders and got take out lunch which the twins ate on the way to school. They dropped me off at home and I finished mine here.
Daughter Jenny came over for the afternoon. Just after she got here, our friend Sahar Qumsiyeh, from Bethlehem, dropped by. Kent came home from work and visited with her. It was so good to see her and get caught up on what is going on in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. She is an amazing woman. Palestinian, who got a scholarship to BYU that she didn't want to use, but felt prompted to do so. She joined the church while there, got her PHd in Ankara, Turkey and then returned to Palestine.
She speaks fluent English an Arabic, she intelligent and good and kind. She is the only member of the church in her family and her mother continues to criticize her for that choice. Yet, Sahar remains faithful - she is our RS President and has a positive attitude about her tough life in the West Bank. As you can tell, we think the world of her.
After she left, Jenny, Kent, and I went for a short walk and then watched "Salt" on the TV and then Jenny went home and we went to "Zupas" for dinner. All that has sounded good to me today is soup. That's what I had for lunch and dinner.
Now, here I am finishing up my blog for today.
Symptom-wise I feel, tired, a little head achy, my face and neck are red and warm, [that is from the steroids and is supposed to go away after I finish taking them]. Occasionally I feel nauseous and take a pill and feel better. I can't walk t0o far without holding onto someone - I feel dizzy and I feel "fuddle-brained" but, so far, according to those around me, I AM STILL coherent! So, that's good!!
Thank you for the prayers and faith that are helping me deal with chemo. I anticipate that things will get tougher as time goes on - and I hope I can continue to find strength and peace of mind through your strength!
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