Learning the Ropes

Thursday was a big day for me- my first chemo treatment.  I spent the first of my six hours receiving basic fluids and medicines to help my body accept the treatment with ease.  I soon found out that I would need an additional amount of benedryl after my tongue started to swell soon after I was hooked up to the Taxotere.  My chemo nurse immediately pushed a large amount of benedryl through my IV which caused my body to become restless - Andrew says I looked like I was "tweaking."  However, after about fifteen minutes I was soon asleep and don't remember much after that.  Andrew said I slept through the next three hours as the nurses finished administering my treatment.  I woke up about 6:30 pm and was told I could go home.  I remember bits and pieces of the ride home and of the evening.   Over the next few days the nausea set in and the chemo fog slowly lifted.  Over the weekend I just tried to relax and get rest when needed.  One thing I have noticed is I have cravings for certain foods, currently my food of choice is anything with melted cheese - nachos, mac & cheese, cheese dips, etc.

Monday I received word that my lymph node biopsy came back positive for cancer cells.  It doesn't change my plan of treatment at the moment, just means I may need additional surgeries and radiation down the road.  Just a reminder of how blessed I am to find this lump when I did - REMEMBER YOUR SELF-EXAMS!!!!

Today I started to feel like my old "pre-chemo" self again.  I was scheduled for my port implant at 5:30 this morning.  The port is a bottle cap shape device with a catheter that sits under my skin on my chest and is inserted into one of the large veins above my heart.  This will be used instead of  IVs for chemo, lab test, and any possible blood transfusions.  The total surgery took about 1 1/2 hrs and has left me really sore with two 1.5 inch incision on my chest and neck.  I have some limited mobility with right arms and I am not suppose to lift anything over 10 lbs for the next 2 week - try explaining that to a beautiful 22 lb little princess who doesn't talk yet.  On a happy note, if things progress as they should, today marks my last surgery for a while :).

Me and my port-
(my surgeon want above the collar bone and used a vein in my neck since there were not any good ones in my chest to use)