Chemo #1- 'Roid up, Bitch!

Yesterday I had my first chemo session. The chemo itself was, well, uneventful. I was expecting to get all freaked out, or to cry or be depressed- nothing. Alan and I were put in a private room (Jeffrey apologized for not getting me the penthouse- I told him to try harder next time.) We flipped through some TV- God, I hate Star Jones. My nurse Kathy is awesome, she talked everything through with me and made sure I was all good. She raved about the quality of my insurance as she handed Alan a box full of $6500 worth of drugs. That's just for 2 cycles. And doesn't include the drugs they actually give you during chemo. I was sleepy already- 6am wake ups are not my bag- so I was eager to crawl into my bed and get doped up. First, a needle was stuck in my port- sort of looked like a push pin... kinda how it felt, too. After that, smooth sailing! My veins say thank you. I've lost all the egg hatching weight and my blood pressure was 105/70...except for this chemo thing, I was in pretty good shape.

They started with two anti nausea drugs- Ativan and Aloxi. Ativan is also an anti-anxiety drug. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any calmer or happier. Damn it, I must not have been that anxious. The Aloxi is the "Cadillac" of anti-nauseas, or so I'm told. They hooked me up and let them settle for about 10 minutes. Then I got the first drug- Adriomycin- That came in 2 reddish colored syringes and were pushed right into the IV. That would explain my orange pee. Then I got the decodron- steroids, baby. This inspired Alan to exclaim, (insert high pitched WHOOP! WHOOP!) Roid up, Bitch! Yep, that's my hubby. So After I got my 'roids, I got the Cytoxan by IV drip and VOILA! I was done in about 2 hours total. Pretty painless. I felt fine.

Once home, I decided a nap was in order. Upon waking, I realized that I had been run over by something heavy while I was sleeping. I felt groggy, My mouth was watering, I felt like maybe I could puke at any minute. While these drugs I'm taking (and I will take for about 3 days after each treatment) are anti-nausea, I'm finding they don't prevent the feeling that you could yak and a moment's notice. It's like the morning after drinking without the room spinning. Cotton mouth then really watery and tasting yucky. I haven't gotten the metallic taste yet, but thank God for popsicles! I've been able to eat, sort of. Crispy chicken on my Chili's salad last night had to go, and jello pudding pops make a great lunch.

Last night I took an ativan to help me sleep. It didn't help. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was on fire. My husband was like a flaming pyre next to me. I needed air. I grabbed my pillow and blanket and crawled onto the floor next to the window. This is a favorite spot of our dogs. I can see why. The window felt nice. I slept there there rest of the night. Alan was a bit confused. Harry was pissed I took his spot.

So all in all, I'm okay. Not awesome. I don't feel like the 'roids have given me this post chemo high that I've heard about. That's unfortunate, as I have a shitload of stuff to do and could have used the 'roid induced high. For now, I'm going to take an ativan, have a popsicle and go to sleep.