So this actually happened on Monday, December 23…
I had been sitting in the chemo chair since 9 a.m. and it was now 4:30 p.m. I had crazy insomnia the night before, probably because of the steroid, and didn’t get much sleep. But it was okay because at least I was feeling pretty calm.
I was finally on my fourth and last drug, carboplatin. Before that I had Perjeta, Herceptin and docetaxel. After each infusion, I was under observation to make sure I wasn’t having an adverse reaction—swelling, scratchy throat, trouble breathing, rash, etc. Apparently this will only happen during my first couple of chemo sessions, and after that they should go a little faster.
Oh, and by the way, I love the nurses. Especially my nurse for the day. She was so sweet and caring, and I think she could tell I was scared for my life. She asked if I wanted some Ativan before the infusion to help me relax and I was like, HELL YAAAAASSSSSSSS, gimme all the drugs you got! 😂
It made me super sleepy, though.
I brought my laptop and watched two of my favorite Christmas movies, The Holiday and Serendipity. I kept falling asleep, but I’ve seen both of them so many times that I wasn’t exactly missing anything.
They also gave me anti-nausea medication throughout the day. I had taken one of my anti-nausea pills that morning, and the nurse told me not to take any more that night or I would be super duper constipated. Good to know!
The chemo room was busy. I was in a pod with five chairs, and lots of other patients came and went while I was having my treatment.
I’m still getting used to the word “treatment.” It sounds like I’m going to a spa or something, which chemo definitely is not!
None of us really made eye contact with each other. Most everyone was falling asleep. The older dude next to me was snoring really loudly, but I was actually happy he was snoring because at least that meant he was alive.
My morbid self then Googled whether anyone has ever actually died while sitting in their chemo chair.
Yep. That’s where my brain went.
Finally, my last chemo bag finished and I was done for the day—except I still had to get this weird Neulasta on-body injector thing.
OMG.
Basically, it’s this little device they attach to your stomach area that gives you medicine about 27 hours later to help boost your white blood cells. It looks like a little pager. They put it on, it beeps and then STABS YOU!
That was a shock.
So now I had this little beeper thing attached to my left side and my port on my right. Is this what it feels like to be a robot?
Afterward, my mom got us Chipotle to go and we went home.
I’m feeling okay about everything right now. Mostly I’m just really tired and blah.
XOXO
