Chemo Day 1

Yesterday, September 3, 2015, was the first day of chemotherapy. It did not go as planned.

I was apprehensive, but not nervous or afraid. My husband went with me, since it was the first time. We showed up at 8:45 am to check in and were taken back to an exam room within a few minutes.

That's when things started to go badly. After the weight, blood pressure, and temperature checks by the medical assistant, a nurse came in and explained about how he would draw some blood from the  central port implanted in my chest 3 weeks ago. Each time before they start the chemo infusion, they will draw blood and run some tests to see how my body is holding up.

He said it wouldn't hurt, or not much, and he showed me the special IV needle they use. He felt around the port - I'd worn a shirt that was easily pushed aside to show it - and then inserted the needle into the middle. And it didn't hurt. But he wasn't able to draw blood.

He tried a few times, had me lie down flat to see if that made it better. Nope. He had another nurse come in to see if she could make it work. She said the thought the port tubing looked odd - that it was bulging.

They said they'd try to make it work once I got back into the main treatment area. And the doctor came in, the one who will be overseeing my chemo. He was matter of fact but kind, and told me the risks of chemo, said there would be side effects and I should be prepared to deal with them. He introduced the nurse practitioner who also works with patients.

Then the medical assistant came back in and took me to the treatment room, which is a large open room with recliners around the edges. Each one has two small tables on either side. There's a nurses' station, and then an island in the middle which I later found out holds stuff for the patients to use. Juice, sports drinks, coffee, tea, crackers. Also some cute little hats that women at a local church sew for the patients. "Take whatever you want - this is all for the patients."

After repeated attempts to use the port, the nurse said we'd have to use an IV instead. I'm an easy stick in the elbow, so that's where it went. Drew blood and then waited for the results. I'd packed a bag full of things to distract me - books, magazines, iPad, iPod, cards to send to others - but ended up just playing on the iPad mostly. Hooray for WiFi!

Bloodwork was good, so chemo commenced. This time it was just the drug Gemzar (generic name gemcitabine). I was told this is a "gentle" one, or as gentle as a toxic substance can be. Side effects should be minimal. The drip would take about an hour and a half.

Drip done, the nurse said they were going to send me over to the hospital for a chest x-ray to see if the port wasn't placed properly. They left the IV in place in my and also the IV in the port. I went and had the x-ray, then went back to the chemo center to wait. And wait. And wait.

Finally I was free to go. They said the port looked ok, but maybe the catheter wasn't far enough into the vein. The nurses said that sometimes the port doesn't work one week and will work the next. They'll try again next week.

They pulled out the IVs and as I was leaving, the nurse was on the phone to my gyn oncologist office, telling the nurse practitioner about the problem with the port.

My husband came to pick me up. Just as I was walking into the house, the phone rang and it was the nurse practitioner from the gyn oncologist office. She said they would try to use the port next week, but if it didn't work, they'd do an IV again. I already had a clinic appointment set up with them to go over the chemo so far, so if the port didn't work then they would check it during the clinic visit and see if needed to be adjusted. I asked if it could be fixed before the next chemo session and she said no. The gyn oncologist got on the phone with me and said the same thing, try it again and we'll see. He said one more week of chemo through the arm IV would be ok.

The next morning my husband called their office without my knowledge to discuss it. And was told basically the same thing. One more week then decide.

That was on Thursday. Today is Saturday, two days later. I didn't notice any side effects, unless it was the trembling I had for several hours today. I just felt jittery, and my hands, when held out, were shaking just a bit. But it went away. No nausea, headache, or anything else. Maybe some extra fatigue, but that could be mental and not physical.

I'm hoping that the next treatment, which will have two drugs, Gemzar and Taxotere (generic name docetaxel), will go better. The port will work fine. And things will go as well as can be.