Chemo Round 1

It's been an interesting first weekend after Chemo. Overall, I'm feeling
OK. More aches and pains than I expected, I think mostly from the
injection they gave me on Friday which goes right into the bone marrow to
create more red blood cells; it prevents anemia and other fatigue issues.
My left arm where they gave me the injection is really achy. Ice & heat
seems to be the only therapy to help.

I have been taking the anti-nausea pills, pain meds, and drinking lots of
water. I'm not sure I've fully figured out the right formula, so I'm
still playing with the combination of drugs they gave me to help ease the
aches, and nausea but trying not to put myself in a coma for the entire
day. I have been sleeping at night about 10-12 hours...it's been a long time since I've been able to do that.

The chemotherapy session itself went reasonably well, barring a few issues.
The newly installed port nestled nicely in a very bruised chest did give
the nurses some problems. They were unable to draw blood from the port
to the extent they needed to fill 7 vials, so I still needed to get an arm
poke. The port did work for the chemo after they tipped me on my head,
rolled me to one side and suddenly all was right with the world and the
drugs began to drip in. I did get to sit upright through the session,
thank goodness. They are certain this will go better the next time. The
session itself took a little over three hours including seeing the doctor,
making notes for the study I'm in, and letting the drugs drip in.

Yahoo! One down and just seven to go.

Continued thanks for all the support.

Cathy