AC Cycle 1

AC chemo treatment #1 with my #1 💕 went fairly well. I didn’t fall asleep and I think mostly because I was curious and wanted to know what was all going to happen.

At home I had a delicious basic bitch breakfast - toast with avocado, prosciutto, spring mix, fried egg topped with Trader Joe’s everything but the bagel seasoning.

I took an anti nausea pill called Akynzeo and put a dollop of lidocaine on my port.

On the drive I started to feel anxious and nervous and started to cry. Yep fear set in.

A hug from Mark helped gather my emotions together. And then we were off to get checked in and started.

Rebecca remembered my name and got us checked in. I was sat at one of the recliners closest to the nurse‘s station. Melinda was my nurse that would be administering my treatment for the day. She was patient and walked us through it all.

The steri strips that were over my port incisions were in the way of the port. A nurse name Abby helped cut some off so they can punch the needle through. It felt relieving when they were feeling around the port because it’s been a bit itchy. I think it’s ok when a nurse is trying to peel some of that off. Better them than me since it’s supposed to peel off in time.

First med was heparin and saline to clean/clear the line. Then Melinda made sure by checking to see if some of my blood will come through and it did. We’re in!

Another nurse name Sue came by and gave me a seat belt pillow for my port. They were hand made by members and friends of the Order of the Eastern Star (female crew of the masons). She gave Mark and I some comfort by sharing a story and giving us resourceful information about head scarves and wigs.

When it was time to push the chemo through Melinda explained that she’ll do small pushes through at a time. If I feel any discomfort or anything different to let her know as soon as possible. The chemo was in a syringe with a bright pink color. It looked like pink Kool Aid. I didn’t feel anything different. Mark got me a cup of good ice to suck and chew on; probably had 4-5 cups of it.

Afterwards, I sat for about an hour to let it go through my body.

At around 1 pm when my drip bags were empty, Melinda explained about another drug that will be put on me - Neulasta On Pro. It was like an old school pager that she would stick on my abdomen lower hip area. She opened the packet and showed both Mark and myself where the light should be flashing green (red if it malfunctions) and where we would see a gauge to let us know if it’s full or empty (at the moment it was empty). She put the Neulasta meds in and she showed us where it said full. The Neulasta pager was slapped and turned on. It takes a few minutes. I would feel a little poke so that the needle can put a line into my skin and then it would pull back. I heard it and felt in push through. Again, meds were in me.

Neulasta will help boost my white blood cells And help decrease any risk for infection. It’ll inject 27 hours after it was turned on which will be around 4 pm on Friday. Then an hour for the meds to drip in and empty the pager. My daily allergy pill will help with the bone pain that I may feel while on Neulasta. Which I have not felt any. Thank goodness.

Next blog will be a list of side effects I’ve felt.