December 21, 2016
My first chemo infusion was the same day as my port placement. This was nice because the area was already numbed up and ready to go.
When we got to the oncologist office, they took us back to the chemo room and we picked out a comfy chair to sit in. It was freezing in there and I was thankful I had brought blankets. I was nervous because I didn't know what to expect.
My nervousness quickly turned to annoyance when we found out that the nurse hadn't called in any of my prescriptions that I needed, including one that needed to be shipped to us. So then began the chaos of my mom being on the phone with CVS Specialty Care trying to figure out the delivery, the nurse being on my cell phone with CVS calling in the anti-nausea drugs that I needed, and me on the IPad trying to register for a program that would help me with the $500 co-pay for the Specialty Care medicine.
I highly suggest anyone about to start chemotherapy, talk with your nurse and make sure you have all your prescriptions ahead of time. I shouldn't have had to been stressed out figuring that all out when I was already stressed about my first infusion.
So, when we eventually got that settled, the infusion finally started. Due to my chest already being numb from the port surgery, I didn't feel anything.
Before the actual chemo drugs go in, they gave me a bag of anti-nausea medicine. This made me drowsy, and it came on very quickly. I was fine one moment and then a second later I could barely keep my eyelids open. I was laughing about it, trying to hold them open so I could read on my IPad.
Next came a red bag of chemo drugs and then a clear bag of chemo. I couldn't feel either one of those going in. When the bags were empty, the nurse came and popped the needle out of the port, put a little band-aid on it and that was it. I felt find other than needed to use the bathroom really badly.
Fair warning, the red bag of fluids, makes your urine red and even though she warned me about it, I forgot and freaked out when I saw red on the toilet paper and in the toilet bowl. Took me a moment to remember.
That evening, I started to feel very sore from the port. It wasn't extremely painful, but it was sore. I kept an ice pack on it to help with the pain and the bruising that they said would show up. I had a difficult time sleeping that night, it was uncomfortable turning on my port side so I had to be careful not to roll that way.
I awoke feeling sore and nauseous. My 6 year old nephew came to check on me and he was kind enough to go downstairs to get me ginger ale. I sipped on that a bit, it helped a little. They gave me two different anti-nausea meds in which I was supposed to alternate them every four hours. In addition to those, there were two other meds that I had to take for a few days. More anti-nausea stuff.
I also had to get a shot, the $500 copay shot that was shipped to us. Neulesta. This was to help keep white blood counts up. I'm lucky enough that I was staying with family, which included my doctor brother-in-law. He was able to give the shot to me. It hurt. He put it in my arm. It's one of those shots that just goes in the surface of the skin so you can feel it burning. Ouch.
At this point, I was sore from the port, a giant bruise was starting to develop, nauseous, tired, and constipated from all the drugs but that was it. That is, until day 3. That's when it hit me. The pains. The whole body pains. It was painful to touch me. It was painful to move. I couldn't sit comfortably, I couldn't stand comfortably, I couldn't lay down comfortably, I was just uncomfortable in every way. This pain lasted for 3 days and then it was over.
The pain from the port only lasted a little while longer. The bruise was quite large and lasted for a couple weeks. But I was able to sleep on my side again a week later. Now I can't feel it at all.
And that was my first week of chemo. I survived.
Showing posts with label boobies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boobies. Show all posts
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
The Three Little Tests
December 2, 2016 - December 5, 2016
After what seemed like forever, I finally had all three of my tests scheduled.
The first one was the genetic testing. My sister had this test done voluntarily and hers was a swab in the mouth. Mine was an actual blood test. No big deal, standard needle in the arm, draw some blood, done.
The PET Scan was next. I had never had one of these before and had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be like an MRI but it was quite different.
First thing is the nurse did was put me in this little room, in a super comfy recliner, and told me to find whatever television station I liked. Then she left. I had no idea why. Although everyone there was nice, no one actually explained to me yet what was going on or why I was watching Law & Order reruns. I decided to make the best out of it and kicked off my boots and cuddled into the chair until the nurse came back.
When the nurse did come back she finally explained what was going to happen. They were going to get an IV in so they could put some radioactive chemical in me, then I would sit for 45 minutes while that stuff went through my veins and then I would get the actual scan for about 20 minutes.
She put the IV in me, no problem and then opened a thick, heavy metal box. The chemical inside was literally guarded by the thickest looking metal container possible. I asked her what the deal with all the metal was and she said it was limit their exposure to it since it was nuclear. That made me feel pretty good about the fact that it was going through my veins.
The nurse then brought me a big cup of something and told me that I needed to drink as much of it as possible within the first 20 minutes of sitting there. Her exact words were "Don't make yourself sick, but try to get it down."
It looked like a very watered down vanilla milkshake. It did not taste like a very watered down vanilla milkshake. It tasted like a watered down gag me shake. I spent the next few minutes texting my mom and googling what the heck I was drinking. I found my answer on Google about the same time that I realized the answer was printed on the side of the cup. Barium. I was drinking barium. I don't recommend it.
The barium apparently coats your insides so everything is easier to see during the PET Scan.
After my 45 minute wait, I was put into the actual x-ray machine. The best part of this, I didn't even have to undress! As long you're not wearing any underwire bras, you're good to go in your hoodie and sweats!
You lay on a sliding bed that moves slowly into a covered x-ray machine. It's not painful. It's not entertaining. It's a very boring and uneventful test. The worst part, and the only uncomfortable part, is that you have to keep your arms above your head the whole time. This may not seem like a big deal, but circulation quickly goes away when keeping your arms in this position. I basically just kept my eyes shut and tried to count down the time that I was in there. I was not very successful in keeping count, but at least it kept my mind busy and somewhat off the fact that my fingers were tingly.
The third, and final test, was the MRI. An MRI on your breast is actually slightly amusing. First, they put an IV in your arm. Then they somehow expect you to gracefully get yourself in a face down position on the bed without bending the arm with the IV in it. The bed looks like a massage table with a empty space cut out for your boobies to hang out in. Once you're face down, the technician then has to adjust that space, and your boobies, so they are boxed in and ready to be imaged. Oh, did I mention that your arms have to be straight up over your head again? Only this time, since you're on your stomach, you're basically in the superman flying position.
They slowly move you into the machine and the technician tells you how long each scan will be. 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 7 minutes, etc. During these scans, you have to be perfectly still and try to breathe evenly. That's a joke. Trying to breathe evenly while laying with your rib cage expanded from your superman arms and your boobs being trapped in a box is pretty impossible.
I spent the entire time yelling at myself, "Stop moving, AnnaMarie.", "Slow down the breathing, girl", "You're going to get scolded by the technician if you don't slow it down!" It was a stressful test. At some point they put the magic chemical in my arm and then scanned me for another 8 minutes or so and then it was done. Fingers tingly, shoulders sore, but overall painless.
Next step was to hope the results came back quickly because I had an appointment with my oncologist later that week. Fingers crossed these tests didn't slow down the process.
After what seemed like forever, I finally had all three of my tests scheduled.
The first one was the genetic testing. My sister had this test done voluntarily and hers was a swab in the mouth. Mine was an actual blood test. No big deal, standard needle in the arm, draw some blood, done.
The PET Scan was next. I had never had one of these before and had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be like an MRI but it was quite different.
First thing is the nurse did was put me in this little room, in a super comfy recliner, and told me to find whatever television station I liked. Then she left. I had no idea why. Although everyone there was nice, no one actually explained to me yet what was going on or why I was watching Law & Order reruns. I decided to make the best out of it and kicked off my boots and cuddled into the chair until the nurse came back.
When the nurse did come back she finally explained what was going to happen. They were going to get an IV in so they could put some radioactive chemical in me, then I would sit for 45 minutes while that stuff went through my veins and then I would get the actual scan for about 20 minutes.
She put the IV in me, no problem and then opened a thick, heavy metal box. The chemical inside was literally guarded by the thickest looking metal container possible. I asked her what the deal with all the metal was and she said it was limit their exposure to it since it was nuclear. That made me feel pretty good about the fact that it was going through my veins.
The nurse then brought me a big cup of something and told me that I needed to drink as much of it as possible within the first 20 minutes of sitting there. Her exact words were "Don't make yourself sick, but try to get it down."
It looked like a very watered down vanilla milkshake. It did not taste like a very watered down vanilla milkshake. It tasted like a watered down gag me shake. I spent the next few minutes texting my mom and googling what the heck I was drinking. I found my answer on Google about the same time that I realized the answer was printed on the side of the cup. Barium. I was drinking barium. I don't recommend it.
The barium apparently coats your insides so everything is easier to see during the PET Scan.
After my 45 minute wait, I was put into the actual x-ray machine. The best part of this, I didn't even have to undress! As long you're not wearing any underwire bras, you're good to go in your hoodie and sweats!
You lay on a sliding bed that moves slowly into a covered x-ray machine. It's not painful. It's not entertaining. It's a very boring and uneventful test. The worst part, and the only uncomfortable part, is that you have to keep your arms above your head the whole time. This may not seem like a big deal, but circulation quickly goes away when keeping your arms in this position. I basically just kept my eyes shut and tried to count down the time that I was in there. I was not very successful in keeping count, but at least it kept my mind busy and somewhat off the fact that my fingers were tingly.
The third, and final test, was the MRI. An MRI on your breast is actually slightly amusing. First, they put an IV in your arm. Then they somehow expect you to gracefully get yourself in a face down position on the bed without bending the arm with the IV in it. The bed looks like a massage table with a empty space cut out for your boobies to hang out in. Once you're face down, the technician then has to adjust that space, and your boobies, so they are boxed in and ready to be imaged. Oh, did I mention that your arms have to be straight up over your head again? Only this time, since you're on your stomach, you're basically in the superman flying position.
They slowly move you into the machine and the technician tells you how long each scan will be. 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 7 minutes, etc. During these scans, you have to be perfectly still and try to breathe evenly. That's a joke. Trying to breathe evenly while laying with your rib cage expanded from your superman arms and your boobs being trapped in a box is pretty impossible.
I spent the entire time yelling at myself, "Stop moving, AnnaMarie.", "Slow down the breathing, girl", "You're going to get scolded by the technician if you don't slow it down!" It was a stressful test. At some point they put the magic chemical in my arm and then scanned me for another 8 minutes or so and then it was done. Fingers tingly, shoulders sore, but overall painless.
Next step was to hope the results came back quickly because I had an appointment with my oncologist later that week. Fingers crossed these tests didn't slow down the process.
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