Week 1, Day 2

Some photos from yesterday.  Mom and I arrived about ten minutes early and met my nurse immediately at check in.  She was lively and lovely and super sweet... We were off to a great start!  She had us settled in, my port accessed, pre-meds running all before my appointment time was even begun!  I liked her chatty manner and her smile!  After that flurry of activity it was time to let the first little bag run and then in went the trial med.  She watched my vitals and we all watched for any symptoms or reactions in me and there was nothing!  Awesome!  After an hour on the trial med we sat and observed me for a full hour.  At that time the pre-meds kicked in and knocked me out into a nice nap.  The cold gloves were coming: emotional kryptonite.  I don't know why but they freaked me out when I saw the ladies bundled in blankies in their chemo chairs with those frozen oven mitts on last round.  I was trepidatious since finding out last week that this round I would be wearing the gloves.  They feel like soggy, icey diapers.  They are heavy, but mostly they are no big deal. I think they just make me feel like I am sickly or... Gasp... A cancer patient.  I don't like to feel like a cancer patient...chemo makes me feel empowered, I can't figure out why those gloves are such a hardship to me?!?  Weird.  Anyway.  They were fine, I didn't die from them, but I was, unfortunately, rather pouty about it.  Lucky for me the nurses were very tolerant and we were all able to laugh at my pouty-ness as I settled in.  The chemo went in, no flavour that I could taste... The round 1 chemo both had a distinct taste so it was weird for me to not notice it going in this time.    But, again, no reactions!  No muscle spasms, no chills, no blurred vision, no nothing. It was very uneventful.  I was watching and waiting and self-assessing and nothing.  Just tired.  The last two weeks wore me out and the pre-meds made me sleepy and the day was long in hours but didn't feel draggy.  There are four chemo chairs per room, a great view, volunteers offering snacks and tea and coffee and then the canine team came and showed us tricks and other patients and nurses come and go.  It's a happening place in there!

I slept fantastic last night and feel good today. Lightheaded, but good.  Praying that for the duration of my treatments!!!

Thank you for your prayers!!!!

Kristin

Sonya asked a good question, here's my best answer:  

The frozen mitts are to constrict (make smaller) the blood vessels in my hands so that the chemo doesn't go to my fingers. All chemo is different and designed to attack cancer at different stages of cell development... And when chemo kills cancer it is also killing my healthy cells that are at a certain stage in their own cell development.  This is why some chemo causes hair loss, just depending on the life cycle of the hair follicles and when that particular chemo hits it.  By keeping chemo out of my fingertips we keep chemo from killing my nails (discolouration, ridges, even nails falling off... Puke!!!!).  So, I choose to suck it up and wear the gloves as my nurse assured me she remembers the days (only six short years ago) before they did the glove trick and finger nails were a mess for patients on this chemo.  Toe nails are more protected by shoes and socks (and harder to fit gloves on!) so we don't worry so much about them.  Hands are more susceptible to germs so we want to protect them as we can.  Hope that makes sense?!