When the kids came home today the first thing A asked was how day one went.  She’s so thoughtful. Here’s how it went:

I was standing at the check in place at the cancer center this morning bright and early.  A woman in scrubs came from behind and as she was passing me she turned and looked and me and said “you look great”.  Was it the cowgirl boots and my black jeans?  B’s flannel shirt and the down vest?  My Santa hat and green sarf?  Gosh…it could have even been my arse!  She was coming from behind me after all…tee hee. It was just a sweet thing to hear out of nowhere at 7:30 am Monday.

The nurse accessed my port with no prob getting the first blood draw.  Then it would not come again.  So she tipped me back and filled two vials.  She explained that the catheter may have been up against the wall of the blood vessel thus causing a vacuum.  “Positioning”  she said again.  I asked if I should be laying back for the chemo and she explained that liquids going in would push the catheter away from the wall, so it would not be necessary.  It’s just drawing out that is tricky sometimes. I was out of the lab in no time.

The nurse who took me back to the infusion space commented on my boots.  She took me back and got me settled in.  I didn’t realize that along with the Taxol and anti-nausea meds that I’d also get a small bag of Benadryl.  Apparently some people have reactions to Taxol so the Benadryl is standard procedure.  It was a tiny bag hanging on the I.V. pole.  I brought my laptop, my book, knitting… and was signing timecards and answering some emails when suddenly I thought the prescription on my glasses was going weak.  After a while I was misspelling everything and just wanted to close my eyes.  The nurse was fiddling with something and I said something like “OOOOHHH, Benadryl….” with a dawning expression.  She said, “Yea, 50 (milligrams or cc’s or whatever the unit of measure is)”.    So I logged out and just spaced out for a while (like for the rest of the infusion).  I heard some really cute volunteers mulling about asking if Santa was sleeping.  They were so elf like it wasn’t funny, and tried to get me to take something from the breakfast tray.  I mumbled something about the ball on the end of the hat being a hindrance when a good nap was in order.

By the time all the bags were empty, the Benadryl effect was gone and I went home.  I ate some broth, answered a couple emails and provided a warm body for the katz to nap with.  When I woke 40 minutes later I thought I’d just doze off again, but there was no more sleep to be had.  I got up and worked and made some dinner.  I have awareness of my gut, but it does not feel like nausea yet.  I’ve been very good for the past 3 days now to drink a full gallon of water.  In fact I’m on my last 2 cup fulls now.  It’s work to do this, but I think it really helps my body to move this stuff through.  Being hydrated is always a good thing for me.  I was also given some really cool ginger chews from friends, and they really seem to help better than crystalized ginger for me.

I loved the story I mentioned last time about my friend and the roses.  I decided to do one drawing over the course of the 12 infusions.  I’ll give you a peek each week.  I did not intend this to look like a crucifix, NOT AT ALL.  I don’t feel like I’m being crucified.  It will show more of my intent when the other sections are filled in I’m sure. I also like it because it’s small and can be done before Benadryl head sets in…

As I was writing this tonight E was on the couch just cracking up. He found a video of cats and dogs where humans voiced over burping and farting noises at just the right time.  He came to show me and I found myself watching him more than the silly video, and cracking up at his complete loss of control laughter.  Such a 13 year old boy he is!  Good medicine strikes again.

It’s 6pm now.  I feel OK.  One day, one hour, one minute at a time.