Chemo # 1 ....... Thursday, December 9, 2010

Well, today is chemo day # 1.  We arrived for my 10:45 appointment armed with a bag of things to entertain me and my laptop.  The particular GA Cancer Specialists office I go to is smaller than some of their others.  There are 13 recliners for patients receiving chemo.  The chemo I am on apparently is in shortage in the USA.  They were able to get me approved for it, but my bag went to someone else who needed the same chemo prior to my appointment and the new bag wasn't at my facility yet...it was on it's way from Northside.  So we hung out for about 2 hours until it arrived.

Unfortunately, they don't allow family members to be in the chemo room with me.  However, I do understand why.  They want the room to be as peaceful as possible and keep the contact with possible germs down to a minimum. 

They have already accessed the port in my upper right part of my chest and have started the IV bags.

Right now I am getting a pre-med (antibiotic), steroid, and high dose of nausea medication.  They said this might take about an hour to an hour and a half to finish.  I LOVE the nurses here.  xoxoxo ladies!

Here it is people.  ACT (a.k.a. The Red Devil).  Click here to learn about what is ahead of me as far as symptoms.  YIKES!  I didn't take the picture until she was almost finished.  This syringe was full when she started.

Before leaving, I had one more date with a needle.  My oncologist is shutting down my ovaries to try and "hide" them from the chemo in hopes that we can protect the eggs.  As of right now, I will have this injection once a month...for 3-5 years. 

God bless my Bible Study girls!

Yep.  Wednesday was no different, unfortunately.  I cried for about an hour at work during the morning...again.  After I left the office, I headed to my Bible Study.  The Lord knew that is exactly what I needed...as well as the other ladies in the group.  We are each having our own emotional, mental, and physical hardships, and it seemed to have really hit all of us hard this week.  Kelly wasn't there last night (She was getting fitted for the scene she will be filming Thursday for the t.v. show Vampire Diaries)  Each of us felt that we needed a good night of talking, bonding, and some laughter in between.  So we postponed this weeks lesson.  We were there from 7:00 pm until about 11:15 pm.  If it weren't for our next day's obligations, I think we might have stayed a little bit longer.  In fact, Jeremiah sent me a text around 11:00 pm asking if I was being held hostage.  I said, "I'm locked in the Harry Potter closet".  Any Harry Potter fans will get that.  :)

My most thoughtful husband, then wanted to make sure I was at least having fun...I was, until Dudly started stomping on the stairs.  (Sorry...only Harry Potter fans will get that one too!)


Thank you Jessie, Lisa, Amy, Shannon, and Kelly for providing a great foundation for me to fall back on during all of this.  I thank the Lord so much that I have met y'all.

Wig Day!

Wednesday I had an appointment with David Hamblen.  My friends Jessie, Sharon, Barb, and Kelly highly recommended him if I was considering a wig.  He is soooooo nice and really knows EVERYTHING about cancer treatment.  He has worked with a lot of ladies as they make their journey through the transition of hair loss.  He spent the first few minutes just asking how I am doing.  He spoke to me a lot about the chemo, what to expect, etc.  He has a wide range of wigs on hand (synthetic and human hair) for his clients to look at.  There is a lot that goes into them and so many different features.  My concern is the wig comfort with my fibromyalgia.  I can barely stand an elastic headband in my hair for more than 10 minutes.

Here are a few I am considering:

 I keep thinking about all the medical bills that are starting to add up, and in my type A mind, I feel like this shouldn't be a priority.  Paying for the treatment is most important.  David and I talked for an hour, and I set up another appointment with him for Thursday, December 16.  I know!  All of you who are reading this blog and know me well are saying "Dana, just do it!" 

When I got back to work after my appointment, there we two of those round plastic Christmas containers and a card sitting on my desk.  It was homemade soup and hard candy, hand sanitizer, and soap from a mom of several of our patients.  T. Murray, thank you so much for your kindness.  All of the mom's who have been in this week have lifted my spirits...thank you I. Coto, F. Najjay, F. Thurston, and W. Dautrich for your kind words yesterday.  I hope y'all know that you and your children are not "patients" to us.  You are part of our dental family.

I LOVE MY SCARF

Jessie, I really love the thin scarf you got me.  It's just enough to cover the bandages and catheter in the neck area.  I do not want to scare the children at work, and it's keeps people from asking what happened.  It's not that I don't want to talk about it, my neck just hurts really badly when I do talk.  Thank you again!

 

Phewy

So far I have been ok with knowing my hair will fall out...at least while I still have my hair.  That outlook might change when it starts migrating out.  However, I wanted to do it on my terms.  Susan is my most fabulous hair lady at Salon Spa Vanessa in downtown Woodstock, GA.  I can't put into words hw much Jeremiah and I love seeing her.  Anyway, quit rambling Dana!  I was going to get her to cut my hair really short so when it starts coming out it won't feel quite so traumatic to me.  Here's a recap of the cut I wanted.  Her husband was really ill today, and she wasn't going to be able to come in so they had to cancel the appointment.

It worked out for the best because I had another day at work trying to hold back the tears as much as possible.  By the time I left work Tuesday evening, I was really upset, and it was best that I was going home.  I spent my hour drive home crying about how humans can just be so mean.  I continue to pray for grace during these trying moments. 

Thank you for my beautiful scarf

When I got home on Monday night (December 6) I had a box waiting for me.  I hadn't ordered anything, so I wasn't sure what it could be.  Then I remembered my dear friend Jessie asking for my address last week and telling me something would be coming in the mail.  I cringed because I was worried she had actually ordered a particular scarf she had seen while browsing on Etsy.  **Warning:  make sure you have used the restroom first***  Click here for a wonderful laugh.  

I did receive a scarf, but it wasn't "that" one.  It has a beautiful mixture of creams, light greens, and pink.  I love it because it is small in width and when wrapped around two times, covers my incision and bandages on my neck and chest.  Here is my fur-baby, McGuirk, modeling it.

 Thank you soooooo much Jessie!  Love you lots,  Dana

Manic Monday -The Bangles

Monday was a little rough only having Tylenol in my system.  Everything still hurt a pretty good bit...especially my neck.  I needed to start my move to the back of the office.  With winter viruses, colds, flu, etc. upon us, I couldn't afford to get sick when chemo was only 3 days away.  Tiffany and Denise at work jumped in and took over as much as they could at my desk.  I know it was a rough change for everyone because we are a well oiled machine at my work.  Thank you Shannon for helping get my computer moved.

I am so grateful to the Lord for helping me have overwhelming peace about the entire treatment process so far.  I have a lot of people asking me how I'm holding up, and I'm doing really well as far as all the medical stuff.  What has upset me the most are the hurtful words and actions of a few people over the past couple of weeks.  I would never dream of treating someone the way they have treated me, especially when there is no waranted reason for doing so and while I'm having to process the fact that my life in just a few short weeks has been shaken up considerably.  His grace during my long moments of heartache and tears (both at work and at home) is a tremendous comfort.

Jeremiah, thank you so much for your support.  I know it is hard for you to watch me go through the heartache and not be able to do anything to make it better.  God blessed me with a wonderful husband and best friend.