It was great being in my teens and early twenties during the 80s. I even went to beauty school during that decade and I learned all those awful hairstyles and we used hair gel like water. So during my very long first infusion of chemotherapy I chose to listen to Pandora radio on my iPhone. The 80s Pop station.
Several people who have already faced down their own cancers have shared their success with visualization techniques. I'm a VERY visual person so going "somewhere else" in my head is not a problem. Lesley told me she pictured the drugs as PacMan eating the cancer cells. I tried that but all I heard in my head was "Wocka, Wocka, wocka , waa, waa, waaa" That got on my nerves too fast. So then I tried to picture the drugs as just plain finding their target and killing it. I shoot, my family hunts, it made sense. But when you hunt there's A LOT of time searching for the target. That seemed counter productive in my situation.
So, I turned on the Pandora radio station and the first song up was "I love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett. oh ya. Love this song. I think I may have even lip synched a little.
Next song was "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. And that's when my visualization took hold. I'm a child of the 80s what can I say?? I totally pictured the drugs as the "Taxol Gang" and the bad guys as the "Cancer Gang" and there was a gang fight in that tumor. And the "Taxol Gang" is winning!!!! I'm truly "Beat(ing) It"!!!! haha.
Next song was "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cindy Lauper. And yes, they do.
I started to doze a little during that song but was quickly awakened by the next song. "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. Does anyone remember "Flashdance"?? And the dance to this song??? Honestly, with all those drugs in my system it was really hard for me not to jump up and start running and spinning in a circle while running my hands up and down my thighs. The problem was how to get that IV pole to go in circles with me. They are very cumbersome. HEY!!! A whole new style of Pole Dancing!!
Then came "Higher Love" by Michael McDonald. I met him once when I was about 13 in a restaurant at the mall here in Reno. He had his friend tell me and two of my 13 year old friends 'who he was' We didn't know, and frankly didn't care. Who thinks a guy with a gray beard in 1978 is cool? But I do like this song. "Bring me a Higher Love" ya. Heavenly Father is with me. That's really not what the song is about but I like the idea of a Higher Love.
Followed by "Faith" by George Michael. Nothing to do with Faith in God, but I thought the song title was appropriate. Keep the Faith.
I wasn't the only person in there. It's a busy place and people come and go all day. There were three other ladies in the same room as me and they never shut up the whole day. I'm a chatty gal, but I couldn't' keep up with these three. I was a little tired so I didn't get into much discussion with them, but I did listen. It was just too good a stuff not to tell!
I mentioned on Facebook that they were discussing having their hiney's sewn shut due to Colon Cancer. They were nice enough to have this conversation IN DETAIL right as I finished lunch. This is a new experience for me because if you get two or more women together and feed them...the conversation inevitably turns to birthing stories. It's a phenomenon. I finally had to put my ear phones in and turn up the music.
A little while later a young man came in for his treatments. The 3 ladies already there are 80 yrs old, 50 years old and 63 years old. This guy was 27. I have secretly dubbed those ladies the "Cancer Cougars" And the most disturbing part is this guy flirted back. GOOD GOSH!!! I just ate!!!
So the schedule was arrival at 8:30. A little bit of orientation on what was going to happen today. The nurse put the needle into the port. Just like an IV stick. Then they flush it a little with saline to make sure the needle is in the right place. Then go back to the recliner and get the first anti-nausea drug. Zofran. It takes about 30 minutes to infuse that one. Then they flush the port again with a little saline and give the second drug. Dexamethesone. Steriod and anti-nausea agent helps with tolerating the Taxol. Next was Pepcid. Again, anti-nausea and a little dose to help tolerate the Taxol. The last pre-med is Benadryl and we all know what that does. I felt like I couldn't talk because my tongue was droopy. ha.
All these drugs and flushes took bout an hour. Then we started the Taxol. This is the actual chemotherapy drug and took 90 minutes to infuse. And last was Herceptin. I am Her2/Neu+ which means this tumor loves estrogen. Herceptin blocks the estrogen receptors so it will stop it from growing.
I tolerated all the drugs very well and was given a gold star for doing so. Not really, but the nurse thought I did great. I was there almost 7 hours and the next sessions should be considerably shorter. When you first start they have to push the drugs slowly at first to make sure you don't react to them. Since I didn't react they kept upping the drip speed.
I was a little nervous that I'd be bored but with an iPhone that is kind of impossible. I watched an episode of NCIS on TV.com and listened to the 80s music. Played an iJewels game, texted people and even answered a couple of emails. I was so restless from sitting all day that when I got home I had Damon walk with me to Crissie Caughlin park and back. It's just over a mile and it felt really good to get some fresh cool air. aaahhh.
My friend Mary sent the most hilarious text. She wrote, "If I were a true friend I'd shave my head for you....how about just a Brazilian wax?" I laughed so hard. I wrote her back and said that would be fine since I'd lose ALL my hair anyway.
Don't know what a "Brazilian" is? It's body waxing with no hair from the waist down.
Ouch is right.
Well, First session is done...11 to go.
Merry Christmas
And to all a good night.
Keep the Faith-a, Faith-a, Faith!!
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