First Treatment - Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I want to first mention that one of the major blessings through all this has been the number of people who have volunteered to take me to doctors’ appointments, treatments, surgery, etc. Their kindness amazes me. My sister, Fran, accompanied me the first time. I met with the doctor before the chemo treatment, and told him that I wanted to go with the TC protocol. He said that would be fine. After seeing him, I went into the treatment rooms and chose a semi-private cubby hole. There were nurses hovering around me the whole time explaining how the treatment would go, what would be done, what the side effects were, and that I should have purchased a wig by now. They even brought a woman over to me who was completely bald to show me her head and talk about her wig. I did not have the heart to tell them how unhelpful this was.

Fran told me afterwards that I looked mad at the nurses, and actually I was angry at all the garbage I would have to deal with and the toxins that would be placed in my body. It was overwhelming to say the least. First, they drew blood and had it checked by the lab immediately to make sure my blood levels were in good enough condition for the treatment. Then they administered a cocktail of steroids to help with any allergic reactions along with an anti-nausea medication. Next, came the Benadryl, but I am not sure why. Finally, they administered the Taxotere and then separately, the Cytoxan. The Benadryl made me sleepy but restless. As soon as I began to relax, I had the intense urge to kick the chair. It took a while to calm down. I slept most of the time while listening to my GoBible (the bible on Ipod). Finally, the three hours were over, and I was able to go home. My eyes felt fuzzy, and I had a headache, but I had survived. That night I rested and had pea soup in an effort to alkalize my system because chemo is very acidifying to the body.

The doctor had also mentioned that he wanted me to take a shot called Neulasta. It is given to chemo patients in order to force white blood cells to develop rapidly in the bone marrow. This is done as a preemptive measure because chemo attacks white blood cells. He told me some possible side-effects could be muscle soreness. I had great misgivings but decided to take the shot any way. It was a decision I would very soon regret. It had to be administered 24 hours after the chemo treatment. My friend, Marge, the nurse, agreed to administer it at my house which saved me a trip back to the doctor’s office the next day.