It's my favorite so far. I had it printed that day, as I waited for her prescriptions, and have it hanging on my desk at work. Something ineffable makes me happy ever time I look at it.
Showing posts with label chemo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chemo. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Photo from Round 4
We never posted the picture from the 4th round of chemo. Her hair has been gone for a while now and "normal clothes" have replaced the pink outfit:
It's my favorite so far. I had it printed that day, as I waited for her prescriptions, and have it hanging on my desk at work. Something ineffable makes me happy ever time I look at it.
It's my favorite so far. I had it printed that day, as I waited for her prescriptions, and have it hanging on my desk at work. Something ineffable makes me happy ever time I look at it.
Friday, September 26, 2008
One Chemo Down, Seven More to Go
My first chemo appointment was at 9:45 yesterday. They checked my blood cell counts and I was given the go-ahead to receive my first treatment. They tapped my port to draw blood, so I was ready to go by the time I got into the chemo room.
The room is long, and has a bunch of reclining chairs in it. Each chair has a pillow and an afghan on it, and two little arm tables attached for your reading, water bottle, etc. Across from some of the recliners are regular chairs for your visitor (in my case, Joe). At either end of the room is a TV with built-in DVD and VCR. There is coffee, water, and juice available. A table holds a basket of head scarves/turbans, a basket of saltine crackers, and some literature on cancer. There is also a bookcase with novels that you can read.
They first gave me an IV bag full of anti-nausea medicine. I had also taken an anti-nausea pill at home prior to arriving, so I had two on board by the time the first chemo arrived. The first one was red in a HUGE syringe. It looked like it was for giving horses shots. The nurse had to slowly inject the medicine into an IV line (saline was running with it) over the course of 5 minutes. She warned me that it would make my pee turn orange and not to worry when it happened.
The next drug was in an IV bag and took more than an hour to drip into me. They could have done it in as little as an hour, but it sometimes makes people have sinus issues--runny nose, sneezing, stuffiness--so they run it more slowly for at least the first time.
I had my knitting with me, and a lot of people struck up conversations with me about that. I think there must be something about yarn arts that just make people seem more approachable. "What are you making?" is such an easy way to strike up a conversation. Although, I had to recast on 4-5 times because I kept messing up. I finally started correctly though and was on my way.
About half the room was younger women and half was older. Joe and I were a bit surprised at how equal the distribution was. After listening to conversations floating around the room, he decided that if he were a playwrite, he would write a play entitled "The Thursday Morning Chemo Club." It would be about six women going through chemo and their lives. He thinks he's not creative at all, but I am always amazed at the ideas he comes up with.
The room is long, and has a bunch of reclining chairs in it. Each chair has a pillow and an afghan on it, and two little arm tables attached for your reading, water bottle, etc. Across from some of the recliners are regular chairs for your visitor (in my case, Joe). At either end of the room is a TV with built-in DVD and VCR. There is coffee, water, and juice available. A table holds a basket of head scarves/turbans, a basket of saltine crackers, and some literature on cancer. There is also a bookcase with novels that you can read.
They first gave me an IV bag full of anti-nausea medicine. I had also taken an anti-nausea pill at home prior to arriving, so I had two on board by the time the first chemo arrived. The first one was red in a HUGE syringe. It looked like it was for giving horses shots. The nurse had to slowly inject the medicine into an IV line (saline was running with it) over the course of 5 minutes. She warned me that it would make my pee turn orange and not to worry when it happened.
The next drug was in an IV bag and took more than an hour to drip into me. They could have done it in as little as an hour, but it sometimes makes people have sinus issues--runny nose, sneezing, stuffiness--so they run it more slowly for at least the first time.
I had my knitting with me, and a lot of people struck up conversations with me about that. I think there must be something about yarn arts that just make people seem more approachable. "What are you making?" is such an easy way to strike up a conversation. Although, I had to recast on 4-5 times because I kept messing up. I finally started correctly though and was on my way.
About half the room was younger women and half was older. Joe and I were a bit surprised at how equal the distribution was. After listening to conversations floating around the room, he decided that if he were a playwrite, he would write a play entitled "The Thursday Morning Chemo Club." It would be about six women going through chemo and their lives. He thinks he's not creative at all, but I am always amazed at the ideas he comes up with.
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