Day 77: One down, five to go

I was up nearly every hour last night thanks to the howling wind and all the water I drank after lunch. Ok, there may have been some nerves as well.

The morning was executed with military precision. Remie was an agreeable soldier which was a pleasant surprise. The kids happily ran into Steph's at 7.30a and started playing with R and P.  Time to go. 

Nick and I put Errol's top down despite the cloud because, after all, it is the chemo car and we were off to my first round of chemo. Traffic was bad but we managed to get there a few minutes after 8.30a. 

I was admitted to the chemo cottage and shown to my recliner. A lovely nurse came to put on my cold cap: towels around my shoulders, spray to wet my hair then the cold cap on and the neoprene fastener is place. I was surprised that it was actually bearable. 

Then another lovely nurse came and inserted my cannula. She started the drip with saline then moved on to an anti-nausea. She then showed me all 3 bags of fluid that make up my cocktail and had me confirm my name. Somewhere in there the other nurse came back and gave me a tablet anti-emetic (great word meaning anti-nausea). 

Then the bags began. First up was 5FU, the little clear one. That was fine but I was instructed to suck ice chips during that infusion to try to stave off the likely mouth sores. Then came the little red bag that looked like, and had the consistency of, kids' cherry cough syrup. That was the epirubicin.  It's the one that can weaken my heart muscle (!) and also turns my wee red until it is out of my body, which will be a good gauge of how things are going. Finally came the cyclophosphamide, a much bigger bag containing a clear and cold liquid. I needed a thrird blanket for that one. 

The whole IV process took about 90 minutes. I had to wear the cold cap for an our before and an hour after, so we were able to head home about 12.45p.  I was graced with some lovely visitors: Deb brought Nick a coffee, Gail popped in on her way to radiotherapy, Mel's mum (whom I'd never met before), Val, popped in to say hello as her husband was at an appointment, and Ruth came in on her way to work. They were all wonderful company.

Nick and I managed lunch at a local cafe as the weather turned better. Sue even popped by for a coffee with Rose (yellow lab) and some scarves she purchased last week in NYC.

So I am home and feeling ok at 6.30p. I am spaced out, tired and a bit nauseous. I am doing my mouth care wash and drinking water. I can only wait and see from now.