Ok, one down, three to go of the AC, then I start a 4 course regimen of the other chemo drug. I tried to go with a positive(ish) attitude, so I wore my Ted Lasso “Believe” shirt and brought PillowPatton.
The port stick didn’t hurt, in spite of the fresh incision and all of the bruising. I just iced it for a few minutes before we started. They called about the lidocaine cream this morning (a little late… 😆) but I told them I don’t need it.
The new infusion center is MUCH nicer than the old one. Everyone is put in a semi-private bay, and there’s plenty of WiFi. We were there for over 4 hours, so we watched a FNM concert from 2015 that a videographer sent me. You can see the bay across from ours in this pic, to get an idea of what the setup is like.
They took a bunch of labs, and once the results came back they started the “Red Devil” (the A part of the AC regimen). They put that in first and the nurse does it as a push via syringe. It takes 5-10 minutes for that part. It’s bright red, and has nasty side effects, so that’s why it has the red devil nickname. I had to eat ice chips during this time to try to prevent mouth sores.
They gave me a slew of meds- stomach meds and steroids mostly, and of course, the “C” part of the AC, which was done via hanging IV. They gave me fluids, as well. The “C” took a couple of hours.
They were supposed to send me home with a bunch of meds from the pharmacy, but there was a mix-up and I didn’t get them. Luckily, I had both of the stomach meds leftover from the numerous prescriptions they tried before (when I had my issues in October). They were able to procure one, singular pill of another kind they wanted me to take last night, and the other meds start today. Brant was able drive over this morning and they did a curbside drop for him. I think I have everything now!
After all of the other meds were done, they gave me a dose of heparin to keep the port from clotting off and then they gave me my Neulasta on-pro. It saves me from having to go back in today for a shot. It will deliver neulasta into my arm sometime tonight. It will take about 45 minutes, then I can remove it. This medication will force a boosted production of white blood cells. There is usually bone pain associated with this.
I have been having some side effects, but since I also just had surgery/anesthesia, it’s really hard to know which thing has caused which. I’ve heard days 3-5 (for me that will be Friday/Saturday/Sunday) are usually the worst, but everyone is different. I have so many meds to try to minimize the symptoms that Brant had to make me a spreadsheet and put reminders on my phone! 🤣
*In not unrelated news, I’ve had quite a bit of brain fog since surgery…
I have had nausea, I feel a little shaky/dizzy, things taste weird (including coffee ☹️, but luckily my chai tea latte is still delicious!), I’ve had some tiny little nerve pains- it feels like I’m randomly getting a rubber band snapped on various parts of my body, and I got a little out of breath after 2 trips up the stairs. That’s about it, so far.
We just have to wait and see what happens. I’m doing ok now, but have to expect it to get worse- I just don’t know how *much* worse. We are as prepared for everything as we possibly can be, and that’s all we can do.
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