These days the first thing I do is wait in the waiting room and don't worry about a co-pay. Thank you Danielle Durham and Margeaux Sinibaldi as well as the Plant High School and Bloomingdale High School volleyball teams for raising an amazing amount of money which was deposited directly into my medical account at Vanderbilt. Then, once we hit the amount given, we have so many funds that have been raised. (Yea, its a pretty good feeling!!) Once they call me back I go directly to the blood work room where they access my port, which is located on my left side on my upper chest, and draw blood.
During this time, they draw blood and run it through to get results. The most important one for me are the white blood cells, specifically, neutrophils. Of course, these cells fight infections, so if they are too low then that's when chemo treatments get delayed because we don't want any hospital visits :) If I get any type of fever it's an automatic 2 night minimum stay at the hospital so we try our hardest to avoid those! A little background info.. if your interested... My counts started at 5,000 and end up at about 200. They typically like to wait until they get up to about 1,000 before giving treatment, but they have been a little lax on this rule because of some recent studies and the fact that I don't physically look like someone beat me up. They said with such low counts I should be very tired and with very little energy. Don't get me wrong, I take my naps when I need to, but nothing compared to not being able to get up out of bed - there was one day, but not every day. Anyways, if they are too low, then I go back every other day until the doctor feels comfortable with the number. (You'll notice I have two different shirts on in these pictures. My counts were too low after the first picture.)
Once I get the "ok" from my doctor I am sent back to the infusion room. It sounds a little silly, but it's just an open room with about 8 fancy hospital recliners. Each stationed with a chair and IV pump. I even get a little side table to set all my toys and goodies on ;)
Alright, so here's the schedule once we get back and settled. First, they start by hooking up fluids to my IV to use throughout the treatment. Then, I take two aspirin and they "push" Zofran, an anti nausea medicine, using a syringe directly into my port. Next, they drip a bag of steroids that is used to decrease chance of reaction as well as works together with the anti nausea medicine (in a good way. we like this!). Then my lovely, patient, kind and wonderful nurses come and sit with me as the manually push 3 chemo drugs into my port. This take about 20 minutes for each drug. The one they are pushing in the pictures is the worst looking one. It's red... and looks really gross going in.. and out :/
The next hour consists of a bag full of the 4th, and last, chemo drug. The hang it on the IV pole and set it to drip over throughout the hour.
The over all process takes about 4 hours. It takes about 30-60 min. to get the blood work back - usually it comes back quick, but since my counts are often low they usually send them back and put them under a microscope to try and get a better look the second time so sometimes it take a little longer. Then, I'll go back in the fusion room and wait to be hooked up and then once I'm hooked up it takes about 2 1/2 hours. Not too bad!! There are some people that will come in for 45 minutes and some that seem to be there all day.
And I say "not so typical day of a chemo patient" because usually over the next 2-5 days I have a high risk of experiencing several side effects. Nausea, tiredness, little or no appetite, diarrhea, constipation, metallic taste in your mouth, dry mouth... and probably a lot more. The not so typical part of me doesn't experience most of these side effects. I get tired a little easier for a few days following chemo, but am still able to take long walks and have a pretty normal day. By the second week I am back to normal. Prayers answered.
My treatment is AVBD (it stands for 4 different chemo drugs that have very long names;) ) I am set up for 4 to 6 rounds of treatment, 2 treatments per round - not sure why they make it confusing. I will get a PET scan after every 2 rounds. This first one will let us know if I am responding to the chemo. If the lumps have shrunken or are gone then it is working (no they aren't expecting them to be gone, just a pray I've been praying ;) ) If I am responding then we will continue with 2 more rounds and another PET. If the tumors are gone, we will discuss if we continue with another 2 rounds or stop. Back to the beginning, if the PET shows I'm not responding or the tumors haven't shrunken, then we will meet up again and come up with another treatment plan.
I am so thankful for the doctors, nurses and even the patients. It seems funny to think about, but we "cancer patients" are the majority while in the office and not the minority anymore :) It seems funny to think that I am smiling in all of these pictures, but I think I may smile throughout the whole thing. I look forward to seeing my doctor and nurses, they are fun to be around. The patients are usually in good spirits when they come and smile and greet each other. They are all so strong and are such fighters. I have such respect for a profession that spends the time taking care of the sick. *Shout out to Melissa Kelley ;) and all you other nurses and medical staff out there - you really do make such a difference! It is important to remember to love others. We all love others, but mostly just those who we want to love. Those we know will love us back. We must remember to love everyone. The world is wicked. We are all facing something that seems much bigger than we think we can handle. What a difference it makes in someone's day when you decide to love them rather than ignore them. Smile at them rather than look away as you walk by. Let someone know you're praying for them and answering to His prompting rather than ignoring His prompting so you don't embarrass yourself. Love everyone. All the time.
Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”