1st Chemo

I had my first Chemo Infuse. It was a loading (aka double) dose, so my official "1st" dose will be next week.

My appointment was at 9am and we were previously told it would take an hour or two. Boy was that estimate a little off. I think that time estimate was just for the chemo itself. When we got there, first I had labs drawn, then we visited with the chemo doc, which was nice but unexpected. Then we went over to the infuse area - a room filled with reclining chairs and IV bag stands.

When you first go in, they "access" your port. It's like getting an IV, but with a little button looking thing where the needle goes into the port (which is under the skin.) It's a little painful, but not bad. I had a little laugh today while watching the man sitting across the row from me getting accessed. He made this horrible grimace and the nurse asked him if it was really as bad as he made it look. It's really not that bad.

So after getting accessed, they push a little bit of saline to flush the line. A lot of people get a horrible taste in their mouth from this, but luckily I dont. Then you get a small bag of saline fluid to help with hydration. After that comes the Benadryl, which is the worst part. It's a big dose and it totally knocks you out cold, with the room spinning until you just cant stay awake any longer. It's pretty common to have an allergic reaction to chemo, so you get Benadryl every time. Once the benadryl is all in they give it a few minutes, then start the chemo. Then after the chemo, you have to wait another hour to check for allergic reactions and they run any remaining fluid left from the beginning.

We didnt end up leaving until 3pm. So ya, it took a little longer that an hour and a half.



After I woke up from my Benadryl induced coma/nap, I looked over to find that Robby was able to get a little shut-eye too. Which was great because this whole process has been exhausting for him also. He did mention though that his chair was pretty uncomfortable compared to my nice recliner and pillow. And that he was freezing. I didn't notice, being that I was under a heated blanket...