Chemo...one down, seven to go!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I had my first chemotherapy treatment yesterday. Before we went to the doctor’s office my husband and I stopped by the women’s center and I got some caps to wear when my hair falls out.

The treatment was very efficient. I was in a room with about 10-12 recliners, and I got set up with my chemo Beanie hat (thanks to Baker), my chemo teddy bear (thanks to rocking chair), and my knitting. (Pictures coming, I promise!)

First, the nurse cleaned my port area, then sprayed a numbing spray…that was very cold and stung. Then she inserted the needle, flushed it a few times, and drew blood.

My blood levels were fine, so I took my Emend (anti-nausea pill) and the nurse started me on some pre-meds…Xanax, Benadryl, and some steroid, which she said I would gain weight on. :mad: But Ivylad said as long as I hit the gym and did some strength training, it wouldn’t be bad.

So, basically I sat there and knitted and let the IV bag do all the work. The Benadryl made me sleepy, so I dozed off for about five minutes. I’m getting two drugs this cycle…one they call the Red Devil and Cyclophosamide. (sp?)

I felt a bit queasy, but I took a Compazine when I got home and I ate some soup. The nurse told me the Compazine would make me sleepy, and damned if she wasn’t right…I was supposed to watch House with my daughter (we’re catching up on old episodes since we came to the show late) and by 7:30p I couldn’t keep my eyes open any more. So, I recorded it and *The Closer * and we’ll watch them tonight.

As soon as Ivylad uploads the picture, I’ll post me with my beanie hat and teddy bear and my knitting.

I took my second anti-nausea pill this morning (more like frantically searched for it when I woke up queasy, since I heard it’s easier to prevent than to stop nausea/vomiting) and I had my breakfast. I leave work early today for my white blood cell-booster shot then that’s it until July 28!

Thanks again to everyone for their kind words and support…and thanks to Janis…I got the do-rags yesterday!

Squish the boobies…save the boobies!

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The steroid is probably Prednisone; notorious for causing weight gain.

Good luck.

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Best of luck with your chemo (may your nausea be minimal!). A friend of mine said her hair went from straight to curly after her treatments. Did anyone mention anything like that to you?

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Best of luck with your chemo treatments; now that you’ve gone through the first one, it’ll become pretty routine. The steroids mostly cause weight gain because they increase your appetite; since you’re in a earlier stage of cancer, this is a bad side effect. I hope everything goes well from this point on, Ivylass!

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Chemo-hair! I hear it’s not permanent. At least my friend’s hair went back to normal after a while.

Ivylass, my offer is still good…

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{{{Ivylass}}}

I hope they’re all easy! And thanks for sharing this process. One of my biggest fears is breast cancer, for some reason. You’re helping me look at it with “reality” eyes, instead of fearful eyes.

Mwah!

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Red Devil? Way to put the patient at ease! :wink: I’m guessing that’s adriamycin, if you’re interested in that kind of stuff.

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My mother in law finished chemo a few months ago. On her chemo days, they’d attach some sort of little pump to her port, which administered the drugs for 24 hours, and sent her home with it; next day, they’d take it off. The chemo did really sap her energy, and she still feels spent sometimes, but it sure beats the alternative.

But, she came through just great, and her hair’s growing back now, though she’s a bit miffed that it’s growing in greyer than it was before. She still has the wig, though, when she wants to be chestnut again.

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Yeah, that’s it. It’s a red medicine, and it turns your pee red. But I have to drink a lot of water, because if I don’t get it out, it can cause a bladder infection. :rolleyes:

Prednisone is the steroid. I’m hoping with me “juicing” on it at the gym it won’t be much of a weight gain, because I’ve done so well! I’m only 10lbs away from my goal weight!

I have heard hair grows back curly after chemo. Maybe because a lot of new baby hair is curly, that’s just the way it grows?

Thanks, Trouble. I appreciate it!

I’m still a bit queasy, but not bad enough to feel like I need to throw up. I’m also a bit foggy…whether that’s the start of chemo brain :eek: or the side effects of the Emend I don’t know.

Dolores, go set your mind at ease. Get a mammogram if you haven’t done so.

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Ugh. Hadn’t heard that part. I had a friend go through chemo in college and I watched some of his treatments - the color of that stuff is just unbelievable. He said the taste was pretty awful, too.

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ivylass - My sister joked about marketing the “chemo diet”, but she didn’t end up losing any weight when she went through treatment. She thought that there ought to have been some recompense having gone through all that.

StG

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Any super powers yet? {{Ivylass}}

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All the best and I hope you get through it successfully.

As for the hair, mine grew back as baby curls for the first few months after treatment, so maybe yours will do too.

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Given a year or two, it may well be more like it used to be in color. At least, that was true for my mom, who went from salt and pepper to mostly white to salt and pepper (and is now heading back towards white)

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Well, I guess I drank enough water, since my pee is not orange anymore.

I got the Red Devil in a syringe, not an IV bag. I’ve heard it can cause a metal or funny taste. Either that or the peaches I just ate from a snack pack were bad. :eek:

Soup, applesauce, and the peaches for lunch. I’ll have a banana later. Still a bit queasy. I’ll take a Compazine when I get home. It made me so sleepy last night I don’t dare take it until bedtime.

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Best of luck! I hope it goes smoothly and you recover quickly.

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Still queasy. When I got my Neulasta shot today the nurse gave me some sample packs of Anzemet, which is another anti-nausea med but it won’t make you sleepy like the Compazine. So I’ll take that once a day for five days, then if I need it, go back to the Compazine.

I did hit the gym…weights since I’m “juicing” and 20 minutes on the bicycle. I was going to do another 10 minutes on the treadmill with a 15% incline, but I thought that might be pushing my stomach, which was starting to protest a bit more loudly. I did find out I didn’t get prednisone, but another steroid…Dexa something.

Hopefully I can eat some soup later tonight.

But, other than a sad tummy, I’m doing okay. It will be interesting to see how I will react to the Neulasta…apparently that makes your bones hurt.

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I’m glad to hear you’re doing well!

FWIW, prednisone is a corticosteroid. Anabolic steroids are the kind that build muscle, and I don’t think you’d get those during chemo (of course, IANAD). So definitely go to the gym, for many reasons, but don’t assume that your meds are going to help you bulk up.

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Lots of luck to you, ivylass.

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Hang in there ivylass! Oh and we want beanie hat pics post haste.