First Chemo

I originally wrote the following in an email on January 28:

On Thursday, January 23rd, I went in for my first chemo session.  They hooked me up to a whole lot of drugs, including iron, as blood tests were showing I was somewhat deficient.  The session went well, and because I had a cath-port inserted under my skin, hooking me up to the various IVs was pretty simple.  The rest of the day went well - I spent 4 hours at the hospital and was released with the portable infuser (it's like a man-bag, baby - think Austin Powers) that would pump chemo into me for the next 36 hours.  I was scheduled to go in again on Saturday to have a blood transfusion (to pump up my blood levels which were low, and get the port removed).

On Friday, I woke up with the nastiest hiccups that caused me to puke several times.  Over the phone, the doctors suggested several things including nausea medication.  We tried but things weren't going well.  I was having a hard time feeling like eating or drinking anything.

So Saturday, I was admitted to Brigham and Women's and this is where things get grey.  Apparently I was severely dehydrated and was continuing to puke.  I honestly don't remember much about Saturday or Sunday.  I was hooked up to a bunch of IVs pumping many different things into me, and I was miserable. I was in and out of consciousness as some of the drugs knocked me out. Karla spent Saturday night at the hospital with me and most of Sunday.

By Monday, things got better and they released me that night.  Still felt a little bit off (queasy stomach), but am feeling much better today. So caught up on a bit of work today and I have tried hard to drink a lot, and put down as much food as possible. 

My friend Pam has pointed out that this is a learning game as everyone reacts differently to chemo, so it's not necessarily a surprise that things didn't go perfectly the first time. We go back to the doctor tomorrow to assess whether there is a better concoction of drugs for the second chemo next Wednesday.

Look, this may be too much detail for all of you to know, and if you want to be left out of future emails, let me know.  Also let me know if the email address I used for you is best.  I look at this past week as a step to the side rather than a step forward or a step back.  Hopefully things go better with second chemo next week.

All the best and go Broncos!

Andrew