The Battle Begins!

         Today was a very long day…doctor’s appointment at 8:15 am, cancer/chemotherapy education session, and then 5 hours of blood testing and IV chemo infusions.  I got home after 4 PM.  Whew.  I’m on a cocktail of three different chemo drugs, each trying to control the cancer in a different way.  I received pre-chemo medications to reduce allergic reactions to the chemo,  stomach upset, and nausea.  I guess these pre-chemo meds work because I was told that some patients gain weight during chemo. 

         Nathan, Nina, and Wynn came for the education part.  I’m so glad they were there to hear the information with me – I’m sure I missed things.  Brigid came at lunchtime, with lunch, for all of us.  What a pal.  She and Nathan sat with me for the afternoon, chatting one second, then watching me sleep the next, as the meds kept knocking me out unexpectedly. 

         Getting chemotherapy feels like such a double-edged sword.  On one hand, I’m relieved to finally be actively fighting this cancer.  I know that in the past two weeks since it was discovered that something bad was going on inside me, I’ve been so busy getting tests, biopsies, seeing doctors, getting second opinions, etc.  BUT, during this time, I, we, had done nothing about the cancer yet.  It was still inside of me, growing, and probably spreading some more.  Today that changed.  However, chemotherapy is scary too.  There are very unpleasant side effects…many of them.   It’s difficult, (but not impossible) for me to wrap my head around the idea that I consented to getting chemicals infused into my body.  I EAT ORGANIC FOODS! But, I signed the consent and laid my arm out for the IV. 

Wish me luck...and I think luck has a lot to do with whether chemotherapeutic drugs work, or not.