Chemo: Round 1

Whew! I didn't realize how much time had passed since my last update. I have been spending some great quality time with my husband, kids, family, and friends, and just haven't had time to blog. I am going to try to get better! I will do my best to document as much as I can remember from the past month and will split into a couple different blogs to keep from rambling too much. Please forgive me if this post is all over the place. Chemo brain is a REAL thing!

Round 1:

Leading up to my first round, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect and just really had a lot of lingering anxiety about how I would handle the treatment. That morning, as I nursed sweet Madeline for the last time, God covered me with a peace that only He can. My mom, Ben, and I headed to the hospital in good spirits. My sister, Carly, joined us shortly after we arrived. I have to be at treatment an hour early because labs are required in order to have a starting point for my white blood count levels and a few other baselines have to be established. I did my lab work and waited patiently for the next available chair in the infusion clinic. I had been told that they don't allow people to sit back in the treatment room with you for more than about 15 minutes at a time, so I came prepared with things to keep me busy: my Bible, adult coloring books, laptop for work, books, earphones, etc. When they called me back, they let Ben come with me for support while I got set up. Much to my surprise, they let him stay in there almost the entire time. He took a short lunch break, but was by my side the rest of the time. It was a crazy feeling to sit in a chair and know that the bags of fluid hanging around me were what could save my life. They start with a bag of Zofran for nausea and a steroid. Those took about 15 minutes each. Next up was the Taxotere which is one of my chemo drugs. My nurse explained that 20% of people have a reaction to this drug which causes tightness in the chest, a warm, flush feeling above the neck, and back pain. She said that it usually occurs within the first 15 minutes of administering the drug. We got right to the 15 minute mark and my chest tightened up. I thought maybe I was subliminally feeling the effects since she had warned me, but then my head got hot. Ben got the nurse and as she walked up, the back pain hit me. Looks like I'm one of the 20%! She stopped treatment and explained that she was going to give me a dose of Benadryl and Zantac before re-administering the drug. That worked like a charm and the Benadryl knocked me out. It was the best nap I have had since before having kids! The rest of the treatment went fine. My mom and sister got to come back and chat for a few minutes each and overall everything went as well as I could have hoped. Here's a few pictures from Round 1!

I didn't experience too many side effects from Round 1. The first thing that happened was that I lost my taste buds. My mouth felt kind of dry and raw and food just didn't taste like it should. I had a few bone aches and some stomach pains, but other than that, I'd say it was very tolerable. I was able to spend the weekend after chemo at the beach with my husband and some of our best friends, so that was a real treat. I've been blessed to be surrounded by the most amazing support system and it has made all the different in the world.

This journey wouldn't be complete without you guys, who give me strength to keep fighting!

With love,
Heather