Well today was my 2nd treatment.  So much easier with this port.  Which everyone now calls Perdita.  So good thing I got the name picked out.  Didn’t hurt at all, which was a shocker.  But now it starts.

So here’s how chemo day goes.  I go in and they draw blood.  Run my numbers to make sure everything is good.  Then they give me the fun anti-nausea meds.  This takes about an hour.  Then I get the red juice. and then the white juice.  These take an hour each.  I refer to them as courses and the entire experience as cocktail hour(s).  They flush the port and unplug me.  It’s all pretty exciting. I sat out with the general public today.  (the other patients vs. a private room) Figure I would be a little more social.  And don’t cha know….

Met a woman and man who live about 2 hours from here.  They moved here about 20 some years ago from California.  Well her grandson is coming in from Philly tomorrow.  And of course I ask….oh…Philly?????  And she was like, yeah, she and her husband are from Mt. Holly and West Deptford.  Go figure!  I mean what are the odds.  They moved away like 54 years ago.  I knew from her disposition she was from the area….she’s quite the spitfire.  We had a total blast today.

But you ask…what does one do sitting there being pumped with drugs for 3 hours.  Well.  We talk.  There were snickerdoodle cookies that someone brought in.  They were yummy…And color. Totally started the color thing. So yeah.  The time goes by pretty quick.  Not too bad. But I’ll have everyone in Tiaras coloring by next treatment.

So what happens next.  The steroids they give me wig me out a bit.  So that lasts for like 3 days.  Then the one meds I take on days 2, 3 and 4 I can cut back a bit since they make me not function well.  Those are the ones that get me all foggy and I repeat myself and have trouble forming a thought.  And I’ll be tired.  Very tired.  Then about day 4-5 I start feeling a little bit normal. (normal for me)

Tomorrow I go in for my white blood cell booster.  That’s a good time.  I’m also getting some anti-estrogen shot tomorrow to shut down my hormones.  This is supposed to help chill out some of these cancer cells.  So we ‘ll see how that effects me.  Yay hot flashes!

But they said that any symptoms I would get I should have already gotten.  So if this is the worst it gets, okay.  A little foggy and tired.  I can do that.  Let’s just hope it keeps up.  I’m half way through the knarley treatment that runs every 2 weeks.  Then I switch to once a week with a less potent chemo drug for 12 weeks.  The idea is to shock the bugger, paralyze it and then hit it low and steady over an extended amount of time.  Then we can take it out!