My first CHEMO!

On December 28th, 2006 I started my first of twelve chemos.
My handeler, Jenny, took me and sat there with me while the whole process unfolded.

After reading nothing but HORIBLE things about chemo I had this whole thing built up to be something really bad. A lot of people told me that a nurse takes you back into a room with 8 or so recliners full of people, some of whom are half dead, to get your chemo. You sit there with the "Half Deads" for 4-5 hours while a nurse pushes the chemo drugs into you.

Not my case.

I was taken back to a private room where one whole wall, floor to ceiling, was glass overlooking a forest. The office is 10 stories up so the view is pretty good. Also on a hill in the background is a cemetery. That's nice to look at while you are getting chemo. The room also has a T.V. and DVD player in it.

The nurse comes in and pops in an educational video from the 70's about chemo. It tells you things like "Hey, you are gonna puke for days" and "Your hair is gonna fall out tomorrow" as well as "Remember to wipe your ass real good so you don't get an infection".

After the video, my Nurse comes in and pops a needle into my port. She then does a blood count to make sure everything jives before giving me the drugs.

Blood count came back good, so she starts to push the 4 drugs into my port. I am on the ABVD type of chemo.
It takes about 4 hours. I just sit back and watch T.V. with Jenny.
Pretty uneventful.

Chemo was Thursday; I did not start to feel bad until 24 hours later. I popped Phenergan every 4 hours and was knocked out and loopy for 4 days. I didn't eat or drink for 3 days and was really tired. I did manage to hold on to my "NO PUKING FOR 12 YEARS" title. No hair fell out and I did not puke.

By Tuesday I felt well enough to leave the house and visit some friends.