Day 1 CHEMO Reflections

C arol
H aving
E xcellent
M iraculous
O verpowering cancer therapy!!

I love it! (Thanks Shirley!)

Well, let me tell you about yesterday/today. We arrived at JH bright an early for the first of many blood draws. Robert, my personal phlebotomist, was my shadow for the day. He put in a port at 8 am and then followed me here are there throughout the day popping up once an hour or so to take blood samples to see how the Chemo was metabolizing. The initial blood work is passed on to the pharmacy who makes the chemo. At 9:30 I went upstairs and settled into a little cubby spot – it was basically a window seat, looking out a nice big window with a cushion, a back rest pillow and a little TV if I wanted it. (I should have brought my camera! Next week.) At 9:45, Ella Mae, my chemo nurse, started the anti-nausea drug, then the chemo. 35 minutes and it was all over. It was a weirdest thing…it was a big nothing. I didn’t feel anything, I didn’t feel odd, tingling, burning, sick, nothing…as I said to Sally, this is a like a total non-event! Not that I was complaining! But I sure felt the answers to all of your prayers. Wow, you guys are amazing …. and effective!

I did have an unexpected CT scan at 11:00 to check to make sure I didn’t have a blockage in my intestine (I don’t) so I need to add Colace and Maalox to my diet. Frank bought me a yummy turkey/cheese wrap from the hospital café and at that point the not-unexpected nausea kicked in. I do remember saying “God, You there? This is yucky. I don’t want it to be like this….” I think He didn’t have turkey and cheese wrap on the menu for the day. But it started and it was over, just like that.

They gave me another anti-nausea drug that makes you very drowsy (ummmm, Carol totally fast asleep in the little cubby! Poor Sally, how boring for her.) Robert would come, take blood and I hardly realized he was there. The “Pain Management Team” came by, but I hardly remember them. They had lots of questions and advice. Thank goodness Sally was there like the traffic cop, with our special NoteBook that Peggy started, recording all the actions, inputs, meds, etc. (Frank was standing watch in the waiting room, doing food runs and pharmacy runs, reading all the literature and popping in an out with new food advice he was reading on the bulletin board…too many needles in that Chemo room for my hunny bun. He turns that alarming shade of gray when he sees a needle coming along! Hee hee.)

Blood draws lasted until 8 pm last night. We headed home – poor Frank was exhausted and had that 1 hour drive back to DC. I was snuggled in my blankie and slept the whole way! Christine and Erik were at home with a wonderful dinner and I just continued sleeping. Christine was hilarious. I have hazy recollection of her coming upstairs with a bowl of pasta and popping noodles in my sleepy mouth one at a time saying…”okay Mommy, open up our mouth….here comes another ziti…yummy, yummy.” Ha ha. I kept falling asleep from the meds. What a sight! But she was persistent, so I never had an empty stomach for the pain meds! Yay.

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn again to be back to JH for the 24 hour blood draw at 9 am. I had a little nausea again, so took another miracle pill and BOINK, nausea gone! It really is a bit miraculous the way that stuff works. From the stories that I had heard, they have come a long, long, long way in the chemo treatment. Oh! I just took the “4 pills” – the clinical drug— at noon. I take those, 4 each, twice a day. That’s my “booster” as I call it that takes the chemo right to the mother cell! GO GO GO!!

So, all that is just boring info, no real news, but I have received lots of “how’s it going? What’s happening now?” messages throughout the day yesterday that I wasn’t able (awake J) to answer, so forgive me if this is too much detail. After JH this morning we drove out to the Eastern Shore for the weekend. It is a beautiful sunny day. The daffodils are beginning to come up. Spring is here.

Please pray:

1. That the chemo is the right “recipe” and is effective in killing/stopping the cell growth and shrinking the tumors
2. That the FTS does for me what it has shown in all the other clinical trial participants
3. That some brilliant scientist will find a cure for pancreatic cancer soon and I will be able to go from having a “chronic illness” to cured!

I am (again) wrapped in my blankie with my laptop, enjoying this beautiful day, resting in knowing I am the daughter of the King…and that THIS restful peace that I am feeling is not from medication…it is from knowing without a doubt that I am loved beyond measure, and have a God who knows me personally, loves me for who I am, made me just the way He intended, and He has every day planned for me. That’s peace.

xoxo

Carol