Chemotherapy - Day 1

Phew!  Long day today!

I picked mom up early this morning.  She was not feeling great.  Tired and nauseous.

We were at the Infusion Center by 8:30am.  They immediately got her IV hooked up, but her veins weren't great because she was a little dehydrated, so they had to put it right in the crook of her arm.  Which meant she had to keep her arm straight the entire time. They started out by taking her blood and then giving her some Saline, Steroids and Anti-Nausea medicine.

A nurse came to speak to her about participating in a clinical trial.   This trial is more of a research trial.  It will help them determine how different therapies work for different people and the effects it has on them.  Hopefully they can use this research to come up with better, more effective treatments.  Pretty much the only thing she has to do to participate in the trial is give a few vials of blood at the beginning of each Chemo cycle.  She decided to participate, in the hopes that better treatments can be developed.

Next they gave her a drug called Carboplantin.  She will get this once each cycle.  Everything was going along great at this point.  No adverse reactions and she actually had perked up quite a bit and ate some lunch.  Next, they switched her to a drug called Etopside.  She will get this everyday she has chemo.   After a few minutes, she noticed that her arm hurt a little and we noticed that it was quite swollen.  Turns out that her vein blew, therefore fluid was leaking directly into her arm.

They quickly took the IV out of that arm, placed it in the other arm and hooked her back up to the Etopside.  They elevated her poor swollen arm and thankfully the swelling subsided quickly and there wasn't any residual pain.  The nurses did discuss with her getting a port.  Her veins are pretty narrow and Chemotherapy has the tendency to make them worse.   The downside is that she would have to have general anesthesia again to have it implanted.  It's a quick surgical procedure (about half an hour) done outpatient.  The upside is that she wouldn't have to be stuck repeatedly for IV's and blood draws.  It would also allow her to have both her arms free while she receives treatment.

So finally about 2:30pm, six hours after we got there, chemo was done for the day!  They gave her some anti nausea drugs to take home with her and we headed home.

She was a trooper the entire time and actually looked great.   She had some color in her face and felt pretty good and was not coughing the entire time.  When we left the hospital she actually commented that she was starving.  My sweet friend Elaine brought her (and my family too) a spaghetti dinner and she had two helpings of that.  So Day One ended pretty well.

Everyone at the Infusion Center was so nice.  The staff were incredible and attentive.  I swear they never stopped moving - checking on the patients, checking IV bags, checking blood work and answering questions.

The other patients all seemed to have the routine down and would say hello and check up on each other.  The chairs for the patients in the Infusion Center are recliners and many patients get comfy and go to sleep.  A blanket is a must there - it's freezing in there!  I had a scarf and a cardigan on and was still a little chilly!

To sum it all up, Mom said "That was not bad at all.  Nothing like I thought it would be!"

Tomorrow MRI and Chemo again.