Chemo Day 1

One down, five to go. Today was a very long day. We got to the cancer center around 9:30 this morning and got home around 6. They won't always be so long, so that's good. 

The day started by finding out all of the additional scans confirmed what my doctor assumed -- anything that showed up on the initial scans was harmless -- not cancer. A cyst and hemangioma on my liver, which anyone off the street could have. Things like that. And it looks like the cancer isn't in my lymph nodes, which is the first place it would go if it were to spread. SO, we started the day with a lot of good news which we needed after three weeks of bad news. 

Then to the fun stuff. First they give you "premeds" -- anti-nausea medication, IV Benadryl (which made me feel like I'd had a couple of glasses of wine in about two minutes so...not the worst! But glad that didn't last all day). Then they started each of the four drugs I'll get every week, one at a time. Because it was my first day I was given higher doses of certain drugs so it took a lot longer than it normally will. Hopefully things will wrap up by 2 or 3 o'clock next time. 

I feel fine at the moment. One of the drugs is said to upset people's stomachs, especially at the higher dose I got today, but so far, so good. I've been really tired the last few days regardless and today kicked my butt for sure. But lots of people are checking in about how the day went so I thought I would post a quick update. 

Hopefully the steroids will help me to feel good for a couple more days, then I'll probably just feel really run down, maybe a little fluish for a few days. Fingers crossed. They gave me a portable injection thing (that's the official name, I'm pretty sure) that is stuck to my abdomen. It will automatically give me a shot tomorrow night of a drug that will help me produce white blood cells to keep my immunity up and help me fight infection. When it's done I remove it and that's it -- no need to go back to the office to get a 2-minute shot, so that's cool. Next week I'll stop in for blood work to make sure my counts are good.  

That's about it! It was a pretty boring day. Daniel was there with me and it was nice we were at Beaumont, so close to the house and to downtown Royal Oak. He ran out and got some delicious Inn Season for us for lunch, which really hit the spot. More grateful than ever for healthful restaurants in the area. Thanks so much for all of the messages and good vibes today. It's a weird thing to share this so publicly, but it really does help and feel good to read all those messages. So thank you. There shouldn't be too much to report in the next few days. Have a good weekend, everyone!