A giant milestone is reached . . .

I finally started my chemotherapy yesterday and now I truly feel like I'm doing something concrete to fight back! While I was receiving the treatment, I envisioned the drugs shrinking all the tumors and that made me feel really good. Now I feel the cancer getting weaker every day, as I become stronger. That nasty old disease hasn't won yet and it won't!

It was a very long, draining day and I'm glad it's over but, as usual, the reality wasn't nearly as scary as what I had imagined it would be. Don't you find that's almost always the case? The night before I talked with my friend, Debbie, who has been a cancer patient for four years. She answered all of my questions about the treatments. Hearing about it from someone who has actually been there is a lot more comforting than having the professionals tell you what to expect. Of course, everyone is affected differently but I still felt much better after speaking with Debbie.

Unfortunately, the steroids I took the day before kept me from sleeping so I was operating ~ well, kind of operating ~ on about 2 and 1/2 hours of sleep when we set out for the Institute. I was relatively calm when we arrived. Maybe I was just too tired to be anything else. ; ) There were some paperwork glitches that had to be taken care of so my treatment didn't get started on time. The wait was a little tense but when they finally started infusing the drugs, it wasn't that bad. One drug gave me an unpleasant taste in my mouth but that was really the only thing I noticed.

Near the end of the treatment, on one of my many trips to the restroom, I noticed that my face had a whole lot of color to it. The nurse explained that it's called "chemo flush" and that it would be even redder today ~ which it was this morning but now seems to be fading. Actually, it made me look pretty healthy and I didn't mind it all that much! : )

A little later on I started to experience heartburn and knew that one of the drugs had fired up my acid reflux which hasn't been a problem in quite some time. However, I have medication to deal with that which I took when I got home so it didn't last too long. So far I haven't had any problem with nausea or vomiting ~ I've been taking my compazine every 6 hours as directed and it seems to be working.

Again last night I had trouble sleeping so I'm really, really tired today. I've been trying to get little cat naps here and there but either the phone rings or there is some other distraction so I haven't been very successful yet. However, I have the feeling that a good nap isn't far away. I've been drinking water like crazy, as they suggested, and feel like I could float away!

Oh, I forgot to mention that when they weighed me, I had gained 1.7 pounds since the day before! Again, the culprit is the steroids causing fluid retention! That did not make me happy at all but at least I know it's only temporary.

So . . . now I know what chemo treatments are like and won't be so apprehensive when I have my next one on November 30th. I think I'm scheduled for a course of 6 treatments so they should be done in March some time.

On Monday, I'm having the medi-port implanted and that should be the last major procedure ~ I hope. The surgeon, Dr. Schattner (that's Keven, not William LOL) , assures me that I won't feel a thing or know what's happening. I'm very happy to hear that because I'm not big on pain these days! He said there will be some soreness for a few days and after that it shouldn't bother me. It will sure make chemo a lot easier because they won't have to poke my veins once the port is in. Right now my veins are in really good shape and they have no problems but I understand that chemo really messes them up and eventually it gets very hard to access a good vein. I'm glad I won't have to deal with that.

Today I had a wonderful surprise, Linda and Pat, two women I worked with many years ago, sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers! It was so kind of them and really filled my day with sunshine. People are truly fantastic and I'm so blessed to have such a great support team! Between my family and my friends, both online and off, how could I have anything but high spirits and a positive attitude? I love all you guys!

Life is about the relationships we form ~ I truly believe there is nothing more important. We all need to remember, no matter how busy we are, we have to take the time to nurture them and keep them strong. We have to remember our priorities ~ our God, our family and our friends. Success, money and possessions don't mean anything if we don't have the first three.

Until next time . . . Take the time to show people you care.