Meet me Halfway...

Wednesday was Chemo #6, which means that I have officially completed half of my treatments in Stage 1 of my treatment plan. Man, time flies by when a girl is having fun!
This time I got the big corner suite with a bed and plenty of room for my sister and Chantelle who made up this session's entourage. My white blood cell count was right where it needs to be and hemoglobin was 116, so holding relatively steady. I decided to fore go taking an anti-anxiety pill before heading to the clinic in order to avoid being too tired, but it didn't really work. And due to the Sandoz shortages, they are now giving me my anti-nausea meds (dexamethasone and ondansatron) in pill form which don't seem to work as well as the IV form.  For the first time ever, I got a little nauseated halfway through, but it didn't last long.


First of all, get a load of these:

New Coach shoes that I received from Tim's sister Jody and his sister-in-law Paula for my birthday! They feel like bedroom slippers!  Hawt! Thank you Ladies!

 

Prepping the port for use:

The wing is still a bit bruised and the incision hasn't fully healed yet, but the port itself seems to work like a hot-damn. Didn't feel a thing!

Initial poke of the IV needle into the port - this stays in my arm until Friday. It's a bit bulky and restricts what I can wear, but starting Friday afternoon I am back to showering! Wahoo!

Flushing the port before running the nukes.

 

The team:

Pam came in from P.A. just to come with me to chemo, add support and get a better understanding of what the process is like. It was so great to have her here.

As usual, Chantelle was there to take us to the clinic and wait on me hand and foot. I'm a very lucky girl to have her.

 

 

It's still a little shocking to see myself with dark hair, I wish I could say that I feel smarter but that is simply not the case. (I kind of like disproving that little stero-type.) About halfway through the Leucovorin/Oxaliplatin infusion (which is the first set of actual chemo meds), I could already feel the effects of "chemo brain" kicking in HARD. When I mentioned it to my nurse and asked "Isn't that weird?", she said not at all.

So, we got home and Pam and I almost immediately laid down for afternoon naps. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon chit-chatting and giggling on the couch until she headed for home around 6:30. Daddio called in that time to say that he has picked up a case of the flu and will be unable to come tomorrow. He sounds AWFUL! So it's just me and Bailey for the next few days, but that's okay because I have a bunch of stuff to do around the house.


Jackie popped in about 7:30 with supper from Earl's and we proceeded to talk for the next 5 hours!  We just have this innate ability to totally pick up where we left off 5 weeks ago, although, oddly enough she has to remind me of a few details every now and then.

That's the story from yesterday. It was a long day but once again, I felt very loved and supported by my girls, all the emails I received and the time spent texting with my brother. Thanks everyone for a great day. Over and out.