And So It Begins

Day 1: Monday January 31, 2022. I woke up that morning feeling pretty tired. I was hoping to get a good night’s rest before I started chemo, but it didn’t look like I was successful with that 9 pm bedtime. I looked at my Whoop app, (a fitness tracker, which I’ll share my data throughout this experience with as well) to see how I did. A whopping 16% rested.

Screenshot from my Whoop app, which is a fitness tracker that monitors various biometrics.

Not what I was looking for. I’m assuming that my nerves kept me from sleeping well. I didn’t want to really talk about or admit it, but I was nervous. I mean it’s understandable, but I was just hoping if I ignored them, they would go away. I filled up a shaker bottle with water, sat on the couch with Blue and turned on the news. I gulped down the water and then I heard Shannon moving about the bedroom. She came out and kissed me good morning. I could see it on her face, she was scared. I tried to comfort her as best as I could. I told her we’re going to be okay and that I’ll be fine. I tried to distract her by changing the subject to what she wanted for breakfast, and she opted for her current go to, Cocoa Pebbles, only because we couldn’t find any Cocoa Krispies. As she was finishing up her bowl of chocolatey goodness, I began making my breakfast. I grabbed a bagel and tossed it in the toaster, got my eggs going, and started up the Keurig for my coffee. I wish I could say I was distracted for what was coming and that’s why I burnt my bagel, but I’ve been on a roll with that lately. After wolfing down breakfast I got dressed, making sure that to wear a shirt that allowed easy access to my port for the blood draw and IV. With Shannon’s help, aka she put them together, I got my snacks for the day packed into my backpack. I loaded up my laptop and some books as well. It started to feel like the first day of school all over again. In a not so timely manner (100% my fault), I’m finally in the car and we’re on the way to the hospital.

I go inside on my own to start because the hospital changed their visitor rules due to Covid. I walk down to the Cancer Center of the hospital and there was a crowd gathered outside of the doors. As this was my first day of chemo, and the earliest I’ve had to go to the cancer center, I wasn’t sure if something was wrong. “Were the doors locked?” I wondered as stood just outside of the group. After a few moments of standing there awkwardly, I realized that it was just some employees gossiping and they had picked up on the fact that I was just standing there. So, I hurriedly walked around them and through the doors to check in. I waited about 20 minutes before they called me back to take the blood samples needed for the day. I think them accessing my port for the first time was making me more nervous than getting the actual chemotherapy drugs. Now I’m not scared of needles, I’ve got plenty of ink on my body, and I’ve definitely been poked many times in the past 5 months, but something about this thing in my chest with a tube leading to my neck just freaked me out. It all felt so weird to me. Especially since it felt like it was going to pop out of my chest from it being right under the skin and you can feel the tube all the way up to my neck.

After sitting me down, she asks if this was the first time my port was going to be accessed. I told her it was, and she said not to worry because she would walk me through the whole process. She starts disassembling her kit telling me what everything is and laying it all out on the little table that’s attached to the chair. When she gets to the needle, she tells me not to worry because they use a tiny needle for the ports, she asks me to open my shirt to give her access to the port and feels around. Once finding what she was looking for she takes the needle in her hand, tells me “Here we go, just a little pinch” and then just like that it was over. I didn’t even feel it. All that worry for nothing, but that’s usually how it goes. She takes what blood she needs and sends me back out to the waiting room. About 30 minutes later I’m called back to see the doctor before we start the drugs, and I shoot off a text for Shannon to come into the hospital. As the nurse finished taking my vitals, Shannon enters the room taking a seat next to me, and we wait for the doctor. She holds my hand, and I can tell she’s getting scared again. I tell her that I love her and that we’re going to be okay. That I’m going to be okay. It’s just something we must get through. He walks in and asks us how we fared in during the blizzard we just went through, and then gets down to business. He looks at his papers and goes down the list, everything is looking good from this morning’s blood work, just waiting on a few more test results to come back. He gives me a quick physical exam, and then leaves to go see if they’re ready for me in the treatment room. After 5 minutes or so, his nurse comes in and tells me they’re ready. I kiss Shannon good-bye so she can take off to work, and I’m led to my chair. Moments later my oncologists nurse comes back in and says the doctor wants to speak to me. She takes me back to his room, and I wait for a few more minutes. He comes in and says “I was going over your file in the computer again, and I noticed that your PCR test from before your surgery shows a positive result. Tell me about that.” I proceed to inform him that I tested positive on a take home test weeks ago, and that I felt fine now. My symptoms were only a headache, body aches, and a sore throat. “Okay, so nothing new. I wanted to make sure we weren’t about to start you on chemo if this was a new case, we can’t have you with no immune system and battling corona virus. I reassure him that it was nothing new and I felt fine, and he said my lungs sounded good and my breathing test results were good, so he was fine with us proceeding with the treatment. He just had to be sure that the corona virus was leaving and not just coming to my body. So, after that mini heart attack, I’m taken once more to my chair for the next 6 hours.

They start me off with fluids and let me know that I’ll be going to the bathroom a lot and pointed across the hall to the bathroom. Boy were they right, in total I had to go to the bathroom 3 times before lunch which was at 11:30. Around 10:30 they started giving me the nausea medicine that would stay in my body for about 5 days, which should help deter the nausea associated with chemo. Lunch time comes around, and the elderly gentleman who volunteers at the hospital wheels in a cart full of food. He asks me if I’d like lunch and tells me they have tuna, ham and cheese, turkey, and chicken salad sandwiches. I chose the chicken salad sandwich, which came with a bag of chips and dessert which was lemon meringue pie. Shortly after lunch they gave me a test dose of Bleomycin, one of the drugs in my cancer treatment, to see how I would react to it. Then we  wait an hour before we get into the full treatment. An hour passes by, and I was still feeling pretty normal, so they proceeded to start the actual chemotherapy. They started with the Bleomycin, then after 30 minutes or so they gave me the Cisplatin, then the Etoposide after another 30 minutes. I still didn’t feel all that bad. I’d get waves of short little headaches that would go away, and some odd tastes in my mouth, but those too went away. I was then given more fluids, potassium, and magnesium to replenish my levels. From there it was just a waiting game for all the fluids to enter my body before I could leave. My take aways from my first day at chemotherapy are:

·        BYOE (Bring your own entertainment) - Sitting here for 6 hours can be daunting, so make sure you have activities to distract yourself. I personally brought my laptop, two books, ear buds, and of course my phone to set myself up for success. Making conversation with the nurses also helps pass the time.

·        Snacks are very helpful - Not only to munch on when you get bored, but when those weird tastes come into your mouth you can combat them with tasty treats! There also snacks available here, but if you are picky its best to bring your own.

·        Be prepared to pee, a lot - Chemotherapy can really do a number on your organs like kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, all the important stuff. So hydrating is a good way to flush the drugs out of your system. Which means that while you’re here they’re pumping you full of fluids. Be sure to wear something comfy and easy to pee from.

·        Comfort is key - You’re here for a while, so why not be comfortable as well. I wore jeans and a comfortable shirt that had a few buttons on the chest to allow easy access to my port. But everyone has a different sense of comfort, so wear what makes you feel most comfortable. Just try to accommodate the port access!

·        Wristband scanning – Every time they give you something they’re going to be scanning your wristband, so to make it easier for you and the nurses make sure that the wristband is easily scannable.

Leaving the hospital, I was feeling pretty good, besides the weird tastes in my mouth and the slight headaches that came in went in waves chemotherapy didn’t seem that bad. When my mom dropped me off at my house, I was still riding those high spirits. I thought I felt good enough to attempt a light workout to try and stay a little active after sitting for the last 6 hours. I go throw on some workout clothes, and as I’m putting on my socks I was hit with an insatiable hunger. Remembering that the nurses told me to eat if I was hungry, I indulged. In fact, one might say I ate like a jackass. Once my bingeing was complete and I felt satiated, I plopped down on the couch and decided to forgo a workout that night. I watched an episode and a half of Impractical Jokers and then my stomach turned on me. I decided it was best to take the Compazine that I was prescribed to battle the nausea. Laying down on the couch I waited for the medicine to kick in, and eventually my stomach felt like it had settled. Shannon comes home from work, and we talk about our days and go about our nightly routine. The waves of nausea kept coming and going which, I thought was maybe a good sign that the medication was doing its job. Around, 8 pm I decided to finally take a shower. I stood in there for awhile just letting the hot water run down my body because it felt good and comforting. Suddenly a large wave of nausea hit me, so I sat down in hopes that it would pass. It did, but not for long. Shannon came and checked on me because I had been in there for quite some time now. I told her I was about to get out, and then I threw up. Not much, but still threw up and I felt better. I hunched over the drain for a few minutes to make sure I wasn’t going to empty more of my stomach. When I finally get out and dry off, I go lay on the couch and proceed to pass out for a few hours. I wake up around midnight to pee and to drink some more water. Shannon came out to check on me, and I laid back down on the couch and tried to get some more sleep to prepare for day 2.