2 Down; 1/4 of the way there

Second Chemo Infusion ~ ROUND Two: The Winner - Debbie... Loser - Cancer

Blast those puny cancer cells to smithereens....

Mark, Basooka, and I arrive around 2:15 for our (oops, my) second chemotherapy treatment. The appointment is at 2:30 pm and they have trained us well to arrive 15 minutes early. I'm not really anxious at all. Basically I went about my morning and kept busy right up to the moment we left. Mark on the other hand, kept thinking we needed to leave early, and ended having time to change the sheets on our bed before we left. What a sweetheart.

So we are here and we wait in the waiting room for a short spell. It is a very cold day here for us  in Sonoma County and they are predicting snow overnight in lower elevations. They call me, "Debra", and we are escorted back to the Infusion room. Maybe it is called a Suite, or Salon. Heck if I know.

          

RRCC has their own pharmacy and we wait a bit for the drugs from the pharmacy, much like the last time. I have three pre med drugs from 3-4 pm, which I believe are all to help combat the nausea associated with chemo. I need to ask what these drugs are.

The premeds are followed by a saline flush.

So now it is 4pm and the Adriamycin is administered. This goes into the port, but it is not administered through the automatic drip gadget. Instead, Amy does it manually with two huge syringes, which takes about 20 minutes.

Mark and I are pretty relaxed. We browse through the chicken book I bought him yesterday, then he settles into his book, and I into my knitting. I swear this is the only way I can get him to relax and read. Go figure!!!???

I knit for awhile, type this into my iPad, and then snooze. My project is a Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann, and I'm enjoyhing the project a bunch. Maybe it is because of what it all means; Grandma Debbie, Nana, Nona, Mimi. Who knows what I'll go by, that is not forefront on my mind right now.

Basooka and Debbie Knit

Baby Surprise Jacket in Progress

Ahhhh..... Relaxation

        

By 4:40 pm, the place is quiet and the nurses start to chatter, and catch up. I'm the only patient in the five chairs on this side of the nurses station. I learn that there is one other patient on the other side. All the nurses are now gone except Amy. It is about now when I tell her about headache/stuffiness from the last treatment and she suggests I take some Tylenol now to help counter act it.

And it works. By the time we depart at 5:30pm, I have a bit of a stuffed head, but far better than the first chemo treatment.

So we are at:

Two Down; Six to Go! 

Alura reminds me I am 1/4 of the way there; and it feels real good.



Hugs, Debbie... aka the cancer warrior; soon to be survivor 

LIVESTRONG: 

I AM STRONG. I AM LOVED. I AM HEALTHY. WE WILL WIN!