November 2, 2009 - Beginning of First Chemo Treatment

First chemo treatment day was crazy - I got to the hospital late and everything got off schedule.  Very hectic.  But, the doctors and nurses all jumped in to make the experience as smooth and organized as possible.  It was late in the evening when the actual chemo drugs were administered - for 25 hours!  Rather creepy watching a nurse put on a Haz Mat Suit, while setting up your IV - knowing that the drug will be running through your own body!  The only other gory detail that I will give is that the chemo itself was an optic yellow - kind of like a tennis ball - very weird!  My team of chemo nurses were the absolute best - Sylvia, Connie, Mary, and Maria were the ones that I remember from the first two days - amazing group of nurses!  They were assisted by Nurse Technicians (I remember Jackie and Kristin the most), Nutritionists, Physicians Assistants, Nurse Practitioners and an entire network of others - all of whom were friendly and bubbly and eager to help.  Even housekeeping personnel were pleasant and efficient!  Nurse Connie filled me with ice chips and ice water for all of the many hours that the chemo was administered - as I froze, she covered me in warm blankets.  Seemed kind of crazy, but I have not had a mouth sore yet - so her expertise really worked!  I think that I ate 5 cups of ice cream and 2  cups of pudding and all those ice chips that first night!   It was a long and worrisome evening - I kept waiting to be really sick.  I couldn't sleep - partially because I was waiting to be sick and partially because all that ice made me go to the bathroom every hour on the hour!  You would not believe how agile I have become manuevering an IV pole in and out of the bathroom (new skills are always good to acquire).  Anyway, the process is to get the chemo in and then to get the chemo out.  The getting out part took much longer than anticipated - that is why I didn't get out of the hospital until Sunday afternoon.  I had wanted to go home, but I knew that I needed the fluids and medical care, so I was in the best place, getting the best treatment.  As soon as the chemo levels were at acceptable levels, I got to leave the hospital and sleep at my parents house - which felt really great.  It is also nice to be able to shower and check my emails, etc.

Two more funny stories about chemo night - (1) my sister loaded an IPOD with Broadway Show Tunes for me, so in the wee hours of the morning, I was bored, so I put on my show tunes and danced around in the bed (well - maybe bounced more than danced) - when Nurse Mary came in to check on me she asked what I was doing - I told her that Elphaba (the Wicked Witch from "Wicked") was helping me fight the cancer.  Looking back at it, it was pretty funny; and (2) I finally understand David Bowie.  I always liked his music as a teenager, especially his Ziggy Stardust persona.  Well, with time on my hands (and recent memories of hallucinations) I really had a chance to think of some of the lyrics to his songs and they have all begun to make perfect sense!  Things like "spoken like a pink monkey bird" and "spiders from mars" all seem very plausible to me.  I read somewhere that David Bowie believed that he saw a spaceship land and that the American government covered it up.   Well - if you listen to "Starman", it makes perfect sense.  Maybe I will have to revisit some other albums from my past (but then again, maybe some of that stuff should not me meddled with - I am well over 40!)   Again, thanks for your continued support.  Please know that I am thinking of you and working hard to get through these treatments.  Tomorrow is a blood work day and I'll give you an update when I know something.