First round of chemo

Well a few days late, been a little more rough than I thought. However each day gets better. Well the big day came, Novemeber 8, 2012. I woke up that morning very nervous. Ryan and I took Colton to school I gave him lots of hugs and kisses and headed off to big Baylor. When I arrived I got labs drawn for a base before starting my first chemo. I met with my onologist and nurse. They went over what to expect during treatment and home meds. At home I have to take Prednisone for 5 days and take Dapsone to prevent infection. We went up to the "infusion room" the waiting area was full. We waited for a hour, the longest hour of my life, which come to fine out is the norm. My nurse called my name Ryan and I went back. The area is set up into pods each holding 5 recliners and then a nurses station. It is I believe a 60 bed unit. They started an IV which was not bad, they are nice and use a smaller needle than us L&D nurses:) They start you off with benadryl, steriod and tylenol for side effects. The first med they give you is the booger, Rituxan its just an IV piggyback. From what I have heard everyone respondse to it. Of course I did, surprise surprise:) If you dont know me well I am a nurses worst nightmare allergic to everything under the sun. About a hour and a half into the Rituxan I developed throat swelling. They stopped it gave me more benadryl and then restarted it. It took a total of about 4 and half hours to infuse. After those they gave me two IV pushes. The first was the Vincristine, the red devil as my nurse called it. This one is the one which will cause me to loose my hair, I hate you. It is red, so Ryan thought it was cool bc it made my urine pink, its the little things:) I got one more med which I forget what its called IV push. Both of these were fine going in. Last I recieved cytoxine (sp?) IV piggyback. It is a quick infusion 30 minutes. Its side effects make you have a headache and nasal pressure. I did not get the headache but did feel like my face had been submerged under water. Ryan and I met a very nice lady who had had two prevous different cancers and was on a third type. I can not even imagine. Overall it was not that bad Ryan and I just hung out and enjoyed peace and quiet:) My infusion started at 0117 (to be exact) until about 6. Afterwards I felt fine. We ran to the store for a few things, one of my wonderful friends brought us dinner. I was very thankful Ryans parents kept Colton that night. Then I learned my lesson. Do not go shopping afterwards and eat a big meal. That night was aweful. Phenergan and Zofran did not touch it. I will be sure to take nausea meds on the way home next time. So the next day Ryan and I hauled it back down to big Baylor for a Neulasta shot. This shot is not bad subQ does not burn. What this little drug does is stimulate the bone marrow to produce WBC, RBC and platletts, which chemo make these plummet between days 7-10. The downside of this drug is it causes flu like symptoms and bone pain. So thats my treatment so far. The nausea has gotten better each day. Today, day 5 I have finally been able to eat which is great we have been so blessed getting such yummy meals now I can finally enjoy them. I have been getting some bone pain randomly in my jaw but good old vicodin does the trick. I have been trying to take it easy. Went shopping on day 3 for an hour that was the most I could do. Today my big outing was seeing Coltons thanksgiving sing thing at his preschool. Precious that made my day but wore me out. So just trying to do little things each day. Its so hard to be a mom going going going to not being able to do much. But like I said each day gets better. And the best news is two more treatments-yes:)