My first chemo treatment was Friday Feb 13. My "treat" for making it through the 4.5 hour IV session was sushi!! Yum yum. The first day of treatment I felt pretty good, although I was under the influence of methadone. We had small group that night and the love was overwhelming. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful group of Christian brothers and sisters!!!
Saturday through Monday was a blurr due to heavy meds. Thank God for Mom and Tim who were on top of helping me eat, drink, stay comfortable, and get me the right dose of pills as needed.
Monday we saw the Pain Management Dr. He was ready with pen and prescription pad. He approved taking me off of methadone and gave me some OTC and prescription meds to help with the bowels. I praise God that I was (and still am) able to use Ibuprofen to manage the pain(s). Of course there are all the other symptoms like nausea, constipation, tiredness, lack of motivation, and sadness to sort out. The medicine and body reactions are all so complicated, but being able to find the right combinations of meds and the timing of taking them helps manage the symptoms and pains. I think it's just like a raising a child, just when you think you have the routine down, something changes and you have to start figuring it out all over again. Managing meds which in turn helps manage the body's performances and aches helps to feel a little more in control of what seems out of my control. In the words of our 2 year old David (and the "Super Why" cartoon super readers), "That sounds like a big ploblem!"
Some tumors are pressing on my colon and my spleen so keeping the bowels running is vital. Otherwise I start to feel like my tummy is full, I can't take another pill or I'll vomit, and then the pains remind me of how sick I am. That's depressing!
I went in for the NADR (?) test 6 days after the 1st treatment, which is the followup to check my white and red blood cell count. They said "It looked good." I don't really know what "good" means so that's a question to ask next time. They said that I should be at "my lowest immune system point" in the middle of my treatments. The treatments are 3 weeks apart.
About week 2 after treatment #1, I was told that I would be losing my hair since that is a side effect of one of the 2 chemo drugs I am given. I had my hair cut short at week 1 so I wouldn't freak out with any clumps of hair in my hand or on my pillow or in the shower. Sunday - about a week later - mom and Tim cut my hair even shorter. That was just in time because it started coming out Sunday morning as I got ready for church! Thankfully on Friday night a dear friend in our Small Group bible study brought some hats she had knitted and offered a beautiful array of choices for me. Just in time!! God is good :-)
As I was primping in the bathroom before going into church service, I was adjusting the fringes at the temple hairline and nice clump came out! I had to laugh! I was so grateful to have a beautiful hat to hide my head under!! Since I had a little bit of bang left I opted not to wear the beautiful wig that I had shopped for on Thursday with Josie - what a blessing to have such wonderful, caring friends.
Yes the wig -- what fun to finally have long, straight hair!! And it's very warm on my head this time of year! We received a lot of information about how to care for hairless heads. I had been given an overview about the head/hair sensitivity a couple weeks ago from another dear friend who brought over a surprise basket full of skin, head, reading, movie, relaxation and beverage comforts!! She opened my eyes to what was to come, so I was ready to experience wig shopping! I posted some pix for fun!
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