Chemo - Day 2

Hello again :)

I finished up my first round of chemo today. After a morning of sitting around the house reading cancer literature, Dad and I drove to HGCC at 11:40am for me to receive the CHOP drugs. When I got there, there were two doggies in the office visiting!! They looked like golden retrievers. I stopped and petted them for a bit. HGCC is such a warm place and there are always fun things going on. I'm really glad that treatment is so advanced and so comprehensive.

Once I signed in and said hello to the many nurses who treated me the day before, I picked out an easy chair and got my IV inserted (this time in a much more comfortable spot on my hand). After that I was given some anti-nausea medication through the IV and a large bag of saline that would help to flush all the drugs through my system.

After the nausea meds finished, one of the nurses came over to give me CHO: Cytoxan, Vincristine, Adriamycin. First I got two big syringes pumped directly into my IV filled with Adriamycin, which looks sort of like cherry cough syrup. Those took about 10 minutes to inject. Then we went immediately onto the next drug: Vincristine, which came in a much smaller syringe. That one was quick and painless. Finally I was given a drip bag of Cytoxan, which is sort of the eeeevil one. It causes pretty much all of the negative side effects, although the others cause some too. This one was dripped into my IV over the course of about 30 minutes. It made my nose burn a little towards the end, but nothing too painful. The nurse warned me that this might happen. If the pain was bad, they could slow down the drip next time, but I don't think that will be necessary.

Finally I was left to wait for the bag of saline to finish emptying. That took about another 2 hours. Not all patients are given this much saline with their chemo, but Dr. G felt it would be good for me to have plenty of extra fluid to help me avoid the negative side effects and move the medicine quickly through my body. Hopefully he is right and I don't feel too yucky tomorrow.

The nurses explained to me that each drug will attack my cancer in a different way. I am being given this chemo because it has proven to be the most effective type for treating my disease. If it doesn't work, they will try another group of drugs instead. But I'm praying it does! I am likely to feel the nausea and other negative side effects beginning some time in the next few days. I have medicine for that though, so I intend to be ready for it if it comes.

I have also begun washing out my mouth regularly with baking soda/water mixtures, which is really not very tasty, but oh well. If it prevents mouth ulcers, I'll do it. After my treatment, which took a total of about 3 and a half hours, I came home and had some of the subs that the ladies from my mom's work dropped off. They are dropping off dinner each night this week for us :) It's really amazing how people are taking care of my whole family during this crazy time. I also found a whole bunch of messages from friends left for me on aim. You can't imagine how great they made me feel. It's just overwhelming to know so many people are pulling for me!

Dan and his sister Kathleen also stopped by this evening and brought me beautiful pink roses. Aaaah Dan is just so amazing. I don't know what I'd do without him. He has a calming effect on me. He also knows the answers to virtually every question on Jeopardy...::rolls eyes:: I can't watch it with him. He kicks my butt. haha but anyway, they stayed for a bit and it was great seeing Kathleen. She is such a sweety and she doesn't treat me any differently, which is a nice change of pace.

Tomorrow, depending on how I'm feeling, I want to try to get out of the house and do something besides go to the hospital. I think I'll do some shopping. I owe my mom a mother's day present. Instead of getting one on mother's day, she got the news that I have cancer. I need to make up for that one...hah.

Kristen also told me about an awesome website tonight called Planet Cancer. It's a place for young adults dealing with cancer to connect. I love it! I am already a member and have started posting on blogs and e-mailing other members. I hope this will be a place for me to get some advice and learn what to expect in the coming months.

Thanks for reading these entries. I know they're long. I want to remember all of this myself once I get finished with treatment, so I'm trying to write down everything. I want to know how far I've come. Anyway, time for bed. I need to get as much rest as possible and try to ward off the nausea for as long as I can.

I love you all,
Laur