The first day of any treatment will be met with apprehension, curiosity, and just down right uneasiness. All of these and more were mine yesterday. We started the day with our regular Wednesday morning breakfast albeit way out of our normal breakfast route as we wanted to be close to the treatment sight and away from traffic jams so I could be on time. My procedure was to be 4 hours the first time as they like to give one of the chemo drugs slower the first time to watch for any "side effects". They could have just said they were looking for a patient to go into anaphylactic shock I would have known what to be looking for, but I wasn't really paying attention when they were describing a tightening in the throat, heaviness on my chest. I had some of the tightening of the throat and dryness but put that down to the anti-nausea meds and the additional jolt of steroids they gave me first. That first drug took 3 1/2 hours to drip (but next time they said they will be able to go alot faster like only 1 3/4 hours) and then the next chemo drug took 45 minutes and then they did hydration which I didn't have to finish as I drank while I sat there for 6 hours over 90 ounces of water. Needless to say I could have swam home but took the 1:45 minute ride in the car. The gals kept me laughing and munching on snacks on the way home and my motion band was shocking away so I didn't get any car sickness.
All in all I am doing okay, I keep thinking a shoe is going to drop but I know that I am being held up and I will prevail all in one piece. As my mom is famous for saying "this too shall pass!" I love her sayings and her outlook! Today I have had to stay on the steroids but they make me very nervy and then I tend to crash about 4 hours into them but I am trying today to stay away from caffiene to see if that is hindering the process. I experiment all the time with me.
Today I am going to the hairdresser and having my hair cut down to about 3/4 inch all around to get used to no heighth on my big head and try to get used to the "roundness" of it. Then in about 10 days I will have her shave it completely to go rogue as I call it as the rule of thumb for this chemo plan is 14 days out from your first treatment your hair will be going if not gone. Why wait, I really must start being careful for what I ask for...I have been for about the past 6 months been very unhappy with how my hair looks, no not the day Tena does it but when I am working with and the last couple of time sitting in Tena's chair I have said "just shave it all off!" Well here goes my chance, hopefully I will like it. The last time I had breast cancer I had been complaining only to myself mind you that I was lopsided on the right side well that cancer took care of that so you see what I mean? Have to be careful for what you ask for, it comes to you in funny ways.
For a first chemo treatment they said I survived realtively well, we'll see how that goes over the next few days, I am losing my some tasting ability but that is to be expected. Each day will bring a new experience and hopefully I will meet each one with the strength and openess that all of your prayers are sending me! More later, have to run, Deb
It sounds like you've gone through the first treatment really well, Debi, and your realistic, meet-it-head-on attitude remains strong and positive. Your friends who accompany you, encourage you and laugh with you are equally awesome! We of course hope the good physical and emotional feelings stay with you throughout the chemo process.
ReplyDeleteYou mention cutting out the caffiene. Have you (and you most likely have) tried the different "real" teas, the kind you buy in bulk at health food or tea specialty stores? White and green teas are especially healthful, antioxidant, immune-system boosting. Plus, just the ritual of making tea is healing, calming, nice.......
When I led groups for women in various stages of breast cancer recovery in Indonesia, they all raved about ginger tea, which you likely already know about. Freshly steeped loose tea was combined with coin-size ginger slices (about 10 for a pot), and sometime a bit of lemon and honey (or, jaggery) added. Boil it gently and let steep a bit more. Very nurturing and also anti-nausea.
They also had "menkudu" juice daily, and the fruit grew wild in Java, so was easy to get. Menkudu is "Noni" here, and it readily available everywhere, even at Costco, in liquid or soft gel form. You probably already know all this, but it not, you can read about Noni and the anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, healing, etc. properties in a short book/pamphlet, published in 1998, called "Nature's Amazing Healer, Noni", by Neil Solomon, a Johns-Hopkins Doctor. Just passing on some info you probably already know!!
Take good care, and thanks for so openly and regularly keeping us all know about your healing process. You really take a kind of burden off of us all through these regular updates, and that helps us all during this time of change. Love, Toni and Rog