First day of chemo

Today was the first chemo appointment and my wallowing in fear and expecting worst case scenario worked! By "worked" I mean that I had no problems at all except the extreme fatigue I feel now. But fatigue is something I can handle without problem. Here's a breakdown of the day:

We showed up and started the education piece with the nurses where they told me all about the possible side effects of the drugs they would be injecting intravenously and how to deal with them. The real approach to all of these effects is to head them off at the pass before they get bad, so they loaded me up on a bunch of prescription pills to combat nausea, diarrhea, heart burn, anxiety, and so on. They also got my IV going and put in several of the anti-nausea and other drugs to combat the potential side effects first. They did a good job of simultaneously freaking me out (just confirming some of the fears I already had allowed - like definite loss of hair, high potential for nausea, etc) but also relaxing me by being informative and caring. Thie doctor stopped by very briefly - no real comment on that.

They then started the taxol first, whIch has the more immediate side effects so they started it with a very slow drip and watched me intensely. They increased the speed of the drip every fifteen minutes for about an hour and then left it at that final speed for about another three hours. I was very nervous and noticed I was creating psychological side effects where there were none (hypochondriac!) so I decided to busy myself with a little tv/movie watching which helped to alleviate that problem. (a HUGE thank you and shout out to the GLass and Tesarik clans who pitched in on an iPad for me and loaded it up with episodes of Smallville, which I totally geeked out on and LOVED today. Thanks guys; You rock!)

I had several hot flashes (hello menopause!) throughout and the first one or two freaked out the nurses a little since allergies and flushing can be caused from the chemo drugs. The nurses were again great in their sevice, bringing blankets, cake, beverages, fans, and whatever I needed. I also got a quilt that volunteers knit for the cancer patients. I felt a little guilty about it at first since I have so much great support and don't NEED a blanket for survival, but the nurses convinced me that all cancer patients are welcome to the quilts and I thought it would make a kind of neat momento of this experience. I chose a really cool blanket that I'll try to post some pictures of at a later date. I'm happy I took it now. It will be great in our new home and as a reminder of all of this experience - because soon this will all be behind me, right?!

Anyway, so then they started the carbo platin drug in the IV for a half an hour, and there was no problem. Brian had stayed with me through most of it and ran to get us some healthy sandwiches and then I convinced him that he could run chores while I watched Smallville, so he took off for a little bit. Overall, it was a fairly uneventful scenario other than it was the immensely dreaded "first day of chemo." I feel ok though and hope it continues that way. We were there for a total of 7.5 hours today! The drugs will take their biggest effect in 7-10 days and that's when I may notice some hair loss.

Speaking of hair loss, I'm thinking I'm gonna cut my hair short in the next few days and dye it some crazy color. I mean, why not? This is the one opportunity to do something wacky that won't be too permanent, and I have always wanted to do it anyway. So stay tuned on that front. Suggestions too of styles, colors, where to find cute scarves, hats, etc. Are welcome too!

As far as needs at the moment - we need healthy meals again, but only for the next few days. By healthy I mean low on dairy, lean meats, lots of organic produce and antioxidants (green and purple veggies and fruits). These are the requests of the doctors and nurses, but it's also an eating style I whole heartedly embrace too. I am requested to drink a TON of water and non-caffeinated and non-alcoholic beverages too. I hope my energy will return quickly and I'll be back in the kitchen soon. But in the meantime, Brian seems to get really crabby when I suggest he make dinner, so some help on this front would be welcomed.

Did I miss anything? Let me know if you have any questions about this experience. Thanks everyone for your help!