Meg vs. Cancer- Round 2

Yesterday, 1/10/14, was my first round of Chemo, this involved 3 separate appointments with my entourage for the day, Sam, My Mom, My MIL...

Appt 1-8:30- Dr. Miller (onocologist)- So this appointment was basically a "Yep, you start chemo today and I need updated labs" So I went down to get blood drawn so that he could review my counts before I started Chemo.

Appt 2-9:00- Lea Mish (oncology nurse)- This appointment was to go over all the side effects of the three different drugs I would be injected with, how to try and prevent them and how to deal with them once I have them. The biggest risk seems to be mouth sores, so I have to brush after every meal and rinse with a special mouthwash (water, salt, and baking soda) to prevent them.

Appt 3- 10:00- Chemo Chair 14- This took up the bulk of the day. So first they had to wait for a few of my lab results to be back so we used that time to numb my port site so I wouldn't feel the needle go in.

Port Site

Lidocaine to numb the site

 After everything was mostly numb (I now have the Lidocaine so I can numb pre-appt next time) They inserted the IV and started me on a saline drip along with an anti-nausea medication for about 15 minutes to make sure I was good and hydrated and to prevent nausea, which is a big deal seeing as Baby S had me nauseated for the first 5-6 months.

IV all set

I had to decorate my room :)

First I got the dose of Adriamycin, this one looks like I am getting shots of Fruit Punch Kool Aid, it is bright red and pushed manually over the course of about 15 minutes, it made me pee a lovely pink color for a couple hours.
Next, I got the dose of Cytoxan, this was given through an IV drip over the course of an hour. The first two treatments were pretty uneventful, we chatted, read, played games on i-pads/phones, had lunch. I drank tons of water and made plenty of trips to the bathroom, thanks to Baby S. using my bladder as a trampoline.

Cytoxan treatment

Finally, I got my Taxotere treatment. This is the drug with the highest risk of allergic reaction, so about 20-30 minutes before the treatment they gave me a heavy duty dose of Benadryl which completely knocked me out. After the Benadryl kicked in, the gave me a test dose of the Taxotere to make sure everything would be OK, no issues, so they started me on the full dose. About 20 minutes in I flushed and started feeling hot and sweaty, so they stopped the drip, gave me more Benadryl and then we finished it up.

The effects of the Benadryl Pre-Taxotere

All done and ready to go home!

When I got home, I was wiped out!  A friend of mine came over so that Sam could go to karate, my in-laws took Ellie to a birthday party, so my friend and I watched "Singing in the Rain" and "State Fair" while I slept off and on, on the couch. Since I have to drink 120 oz of water for the next few days there was a lot of getting up for the restroom.
I slept until 8:00 this morning, and woke up feeling rested, but very pregnant! I am noticing that I get tired very easily and am super thirsty (which helps with the 120 oz).
I start my Neupogen shots today which will help my White Blood count stay up and help me stave off infections.
Thank you all once again for all the wonderful messages, texts and e-mails you sent yesterday!