The heavens opened up on the morning of Chris’s 1st
chemo appointment. We decided to ourselves that it was like a cleansing & a
new beginning as it really bucketed down the entire day.
Anyway, Chris, Susie Magda & I all made our way to the Crown
Princess Mary Cancer Clinic. We were all super anxious and just trying to keep
ourselves together (on the outside) especially for Chris.
Once we arrived, it just happened to be one of the busiest
days ever at the clinic. We waited from 9.30am till around 12.00pm just to be
seen.
In the waiting room there was a basket full of the most
gorgeous little knitted teddy bears & it’s like they were placed there as Chris’s
guardians.. It was really auspicious.
The nurses were whipping around like wildfire, from patient
to patient, administering their chemo.
Eventually, after much sitting around & anxiously
waiting, Chris’s name was called. This was it!
I went in with Chris & a lovely Irish nurse began by
measuring Chris’s weight & taking her vitals. A blood
test was taken yesterday & the Dr had previously looked at the results to
decide whether she could take the chemo today. They do this to look at the percentage of Neutrophils (white blood cells) among other
things. We were told that with this treatment they expect her white blood count
to eventually drop to 0, which means that Chris will have a poor immune system,
so, 0 chance of fighting off any type sickness or infection.
We were seated in the chemo ward where there were lazy boy recliners
with a guest chair on one side & an IV pole
on the other. I guess they want to make patients as comfortable as possible, even
though Chris’s chair was broken and quite uncomfortable (for the length of time
she had to sit on it + faux leather gets kind of sticky when you’re feeling hot
from the chemo).
Chemo obviously causes nausea and
vomiting, so before we knew it Chris was provided with her pre meds. This
included anti nausea, steroid tablets +an acid reflux liquid to drink.
The nurse started a saline solution drip for Chris, prior to
introducing the Chemo.
Chris was introduced to the Pharmacist, who came over to
talk to Chris about the Chemo side effects + the side effects of the pre + post
meds that she also needed to take. She then left Chris with a bunch of
discharge meds to take home to take over the next couple of days.
Adriamycin
Chris & I sat together as the
nurse explained the procedure. She started with the Adriamycin. We both
watched as she started to push (that means slowly inject it into her PICC line)
in what looked like a large turkey baster.. Yes, it was freaky... OMG, just
watching cytotoxic chemicals twirl around the line, making its way closer &
closer into Chris’s body was scary but then it entered & she didn’t
spontaneously combust, she was Ok.. So far so good. I mean, this stuff even looks evil, its
bright red & has the nickname of ‘The red devil’. However, the great news is
that this particular drug is the one that actually hits the cancer the hardest..
Woot!
The Adriamycin is known
to cause mouth sores. To help prevent this you can suck on ice or iceblocks.
Chris loved the idea and opted for the paddle pop lemonade ice blocks. I think
she had one in her mouth the whole time it was being administered, which was
great, I mean who wants mouth sores.
Warning it
really is RED
and it turns your urine RED too. Chris’s nurse did let her know this so
she didn’t freak out. Chris also had to go to the toilet a lot as they were pumping
so much saline into her. Yup, that means dragging along your IV pole & lines
too.. It was like a funny waltz..a dance of madness between Chris, the IV pole,
her lines and the toilet.Another good point that we had read was — do NOT eat your favourite foods on or around chemo day because you can start associating them with chemo.
What’s up next Bleomycin –let’s hear it for Bleomycin!
Next cab off the rank was Vinblastine
It also comes out in the turkey baster type syringe. The
Vinblastine is pushed in slowly, the same way as the other two. Vinblastine is
clear in colour & its main side effect is nerve damage.
And finally the Dastardly Dacarbazine
At around 15 minutes into the Dacarbazine,
Chris started to feel itchy, scratching at her chest & neck. She also
started feeling hot & began to sweat. She told the nurse & straight
away the nurse stopped the Dacarbazine & just ran the saline. The nurse called
over the Dr who advised her to just run the saline for a ½ hour & then to
slowly reintroduce the Dacarbazine. They also gave her an antihistamine tablet
to assist with the itching.
We all felt pretty grateful..Thinking if this was the worst she’d feel
during the treatment, then that wasn’t too bad.
During the treatment, Chris was pretty hyper which probably had
something to do with the steroids they give her to assist her to get through
the treatment.
Chris was sucking back ice blocks like no tomorrow & she even had
a small meal whilst the treatment was going.. Yaye!
The nurses were amazing. Only one visitor per patient was allowed but
they let two of us in because it was Chris’s first time. We all swapped around
throughout the day, Magda, Rob, Susie & I, that way we could all spend some
time with Chris throughout her treatment.
So the last of the Dacarbazine went in Ok & finally we were ready
to roll out of there. After a good 9 hours, such a long day indeed but that’s
round 1 out the way!
It’s funny, because I kept looking at Chris waiting for something to suddenly
happen but she was mostly Ok, phew what a RELIEF.
Once we got home we all just chilled. I gave Chris her sleeping tablet
around 9.30pm to try to help her sleep. Chris finally slept until around 4.00am,
when she woke up with a bit of a sore tummy. I made her a cup of tea and she
also drank a cup of prune juice. We later popped back up to bed and she
eventually slept soundly until about 9.00am.
A strong person is not the one who doesn't cry. A strong person is
one who is quiet and sheds tears for a moment, and then picks up her sword and
fights again..
Anonymous
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