Day 1 Complete! Status: Green

Day One Done! And for those who want the abridged version:  it went very well! I’m feeling good and treatment was a walk in the park.  I’ve been told though the next few days will unveil my fate, but so far I’m feeling great with so many caring people and new friends!

For those who want the play by play:

• 4/19 – (Day -1) – Steroids, Birthday and Hair Farewell
  • There was a mix up with my medication instructions – they accidentally gave me Cocktail 2 instruction and I took a steroid which I wasn’t supposed to take until tomorrow. Not a big deal, but I felt like I had 5 cups of coffee and was wired all day.  Luckily, I brought that energy to my birthday dinner at Staplehouse which was amazing.  But it did make sleeping hard with too much energy and WAY too many blog ideas!

• 4/20 – Chemo Run Down (Day 1)
  • Shawn and I Arrive at 8:00 for an 8:15 appointment
  • 8:15 – draw blood and test to make sure I’m cleared to accept chemo. They won’t mix the expensive drugs until I have been cleared.
    • There was a mix up and the tech took blood from my arm instead of “accessing my port” (the official terms). Going forward they will just use the port so my heroine veins can heal.

• • 8:30 – “Accessed my port”
    • I like “tapped my port” better though, like tapping a keg. It was intimidating, but they gave me numbing cream which I applied in the morning. The needle was intimidating! (picture below).  She even said “deep breath” which didn’t help, but it was nothing! The arm IV was way worse.

• • 8:40 – Met with doctor and got cleared for Chemo!
    • He asked how I was doing and I got to ask questions. I probed about my Stage – he said we can’t be official until surgery but with the clear PET I’m under a Stage 3!

• • 8:45 – Down to Infusion room
    • I picked my recliner. Got a corner, window seat and settled in – blanket (thanks Steve), pillows, you name it.

• • 9:45 – Start Chemo
    • I think there were 5 drugs total. 3 they “pushed in” and 3 were drips.  We started with a steroid, then some nausea drugs, and I think something else. Then the two chemo drugs.  It was pretty uneventful! No side effects, just I sat and relaxed.  They did give me ice chips to chew during the last chemo drug, apparently it helps with mouth sores.
  • 12:00 – Finished Day 1 Cocktail 1
  • 12:10 – I had to finish watching the Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim) Onpro® On-body Injector video
    • I was so busy talking (more to come on that) I didn’t watch the video.
  • 12:15 – Administer On-body Injector
    • This device gets put on like a patch on my arm. They turn it on in the center after 2 minutes it sticks you with a needle and implants a plastic IV. 27 hours later (on Saturday) it will beep and then automatically inject me with the drug.  This drug makes my bones produce more white blood cells.  The device is kind of cool but also creepy – feels like a bomb is strapped to my arm, counting down.

• • 12:30 – Done! Scheduled my next appointments until July and left! I’ve updated my Schedules and will be posting the dates if people want to join.
  • 1:00 – 2:00 – Joined the Atlanta office for lunch / teach and learn
  • 2:30 – Back to center for Acupuncture with David
    • Also not painful and should help with nausea, tiredness and sleep

• 4/20 – End of Day
  • Then rest of the day was great! I was kind of tired, but mostly because I didn’t sleep the night before. Then I enjoyed a firepit at a friend’s and blogging with Tres Leches Cake Shawn made me!
• Commentary on the Day
  • The Hat!
    • You saw my coming out hat made by my lovely friend Lauren. This was the best.  It made everyone in the center smile.  Nurses loved it.  People were coming up to us to talk about it.  I was very popular!  It’s officially my chemo hat.

• • New Friends
    • I met an amazing woman today. She was sitting next to me and we started chatting. She just finished her chemo and surgery and is in her second round (she has a different breast cancer diagnosis).  It was great talking with her and getting tips.  Before I knew it they were telling me I was done!  She did the cold caps and her hair looked great – that made me have a moment of regret, but she said she isn’t sure if she would do it again and she only had 6 sessions – I have 16 so we agreed it was a good decision not to do it.
    • I also met a lady who works with my sister-in-law. She heard my name and came over to give us some support.
    • And it was so inspirational to meet all the other patients and share stories and support.
    • The nurses were fabulous!
  • Amazing Support through the Session
    • I had big plans to do lots during my session, but I barely had time with all my new friends
    • Aubrey’s Video – Aubrey, my bestie from Copenhagen, made me a video with messages from my friends and family to watch during this session. It was amazing, well, I only got through 5 minutes, before I got distracted talking to everyone. But I’m so excited to keep watching it.  What an amazing surprise! I also got to FaceTime her in to my session!
    • Messages, Emails, Videos – I got so many supportive messages they were just inspiring. My mom’s friend Janet sent a hilarious video, and Mom sent over videos from Baby Grace.
    • Photo Album – I’ve got an album of messages from all of you. Ones that you wrote in the book or I printed emails and text and pasted in.  And fabulous Rachel filled it with pictures! It was so special.

• • • Charms/Bracelets – Kim and Aunt Kathy gave me mementos to use as support which were amazing.

• • • Lovely Journal – I also had the journal Julie gave me which is full of amazing notes and quotes from her.

• • • Thank you to everyone so far, the flowers, food, thoughts, cookies, and the support you all give in such different ways! I am going to make it my mission to thank each of you, but today I just need to get this blog up and out!

In summary – it was a busy day but exceeded my expectations.  I’m feeling guilty about how much love and support that I have been blessed with it feels undeserved.  It is absolutely what is keeping me energized, and excited to keep blogging and I plan to pay it forward!