Chemo Treatment 2 of 8

Another round of chemo done…1/4 of the way there. I thought I would walk you through the day just in case you’re curious as to what happens. I had Steve take 2 pictures while I was getting my chemo, one with my hat on and one with my hat off. In the picture with my hat off, the glare off my head looked too bright so I chose the hat on picture. I’ll work on getting a good bald picture on soon.

11:00am
Check in with Clinic II, fill out paperwork

11:30am
Report to Lab for blood work to make sure my blood counts are back in the normal range before I can have more chemo.

12:00pm
Meet with my primary nurse to go over results from blood work. I was surprised to find out that most of my blood counts were better than they were before my first chemo treatment. Take first anti-nausea drug.

12:15pm
Meet with the nurse practitioner who specializes in Breast Cancer. Review side effects from last chemo. In terms of fatigue, they say exercise helps so I need to make sure I get in daily walks. The chemo gives you a really dry mouth. I have to have water beside me at night because I wake up several times a night feeling like there isn’t even a drop of saliva in my mouth. More water = more trips to the bathroom. The nurse suggests I rinse with water and baking soda several times a day to help with the dry mouth.

1:30pm
Check into the “Chemo Suite” (that’s what they really call it). As soon as you get in your chair, the nurse grabs a nice warm blanket to put over you because the room is a bit cool. They keep the temperature down to help with the nausea. The nurse then hooks up the IV and puts hot packs on your arm because the drugs feel cold when they go into your veins. At my next chemo appointment on May 26th, I’ll have the port-a-cath in which will be nice. Take 2nd anti-nausea drug. First chemo drug by syringe through IV then second chemo drug by drip through IV.

3:15pm
Home

That’s how it all works.

me