Started the morning getting up early as chemo was at 8:30…didn’t get much sleep…not because of worrying…but, because…after so much fluid yesterday all I wanted to do was to pee!
Got to chemo and met Barb and the rest of the staff (the staff at BC Cancer in Abbotsford are the best). We did our morning check-in, went over all the pills I have to take and then she hooked me up to the IV drugs (one drips for 1/2 an hour and the other drips 45 minutes). As soon as the needle went in and the nurse ordered the chemical cocktail from the pharmacist…reality hit. I started to “leak” and Barb patted my hand and told me it was okay to “leak”…in fact, it was okay to down right bawl my head off (haven’t done that yet). I told her about Talia and Ellen and Dory and I played Just Keep Swimming for her (I have it on my phone) and I felt better and sucked it up and got pissed off! Mind you…it really is hard to be pissed off when every 10 minutes you are going to the bathroom. I spent more time there than I did in my comfy chair! I still managed to visualize the cancer shrinking. In fact…when I told Barb about Dory she said she had a patient who stared at the drips. When Barb asked her why…she said she is visualizing thousands of Pacmans racing to destroy the cancer…I now have Pacman on my phone!
Chemo over around 11:30 and radiation doesn’t start until 1:15… so we headed over to the cafeteria to have some lunch…I ate healthy…salad bar…they had no black olives or baby corn though! We both brought our Kobo’s and read for a bit then headed out to the lounge where it was more comfortable until it was time to go down.
Down to radiation and they load me into my personal bed (aren’t I special!) and the techs took an x-ray to ensure placement and the big machine went around and around getting it right…and…then she came and got me….”Hello, are we done?”. It was over so fast I didn’t have a chance to visualize anything…oh well, next time. I did feel really awkward on the bed and I asked if I was straight and the tech said…nope. Off to the chiropractor on Friday for a hip alignment!
So far…no side effects. I had a bit of dry mouth but sucking on a mint took care of that. I was developing a headache and my chest area hurt like hell…cancer didn’t like the chemo or the radiation…too f*cking bad! Feel free to leave if you don’t like it! Took my temperature twice over an hour…no fever…hello pain pills. I have to be really careful taking anything while on chemo…so many side effects. “Excuse me? What do you mean chemo can bring on menopause again?”. Hello hot flashes…not really impressed…I was almost finished with those babies. Rick thinks this is funny…wait until I unpack my fan again or crank the air conditioning. He thinks the ceiling fan is enough in the bedroom…grab a heating blanket buster!
Basically….today was not nearly as bad as my imagination. We had Chinese food for supper…went for a walk with friends and did three laps around our complex (2.2 kilometers), and did three loads of laundry.
I feel pretty damned good…tomorrow in another story!
Just keep swimming.
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