By the time you read this, I will have had my second chemotherapy infusion.
The first was last Monday. I went to the MD Anderson/Cooper campus in Voorhees and chose a big, green recliner in the crowded infusion room. It was encouraging to note that, even though there are privacy curtains hanging at each chair, no one was hiding behind one.
My nurse, Marge, just happened to be my nurse — luck of the draw, kind of. She was hilarious. We share the same sense of humor and she couldn’t have made it easier for me during what was an anxious moment, that first chemo treatment.
She painlessly put a needle into the chemo port I’d had surgically implanted just under my clavicle on my left side — meant to make IV infusion all that much easier.
The folks there really make every effort to make this chemo thing work flawlessly. She gave me three IV bags of different anti-nausea medications before ever starting to give me chemo.
I was in the chair for about three hours. My Closest Companion, who has been with me for everything, sat with me — even went down to the first-floor café and got me a Café Americano to drink.
I’d brought my iPad and a novel. Using the center’s WiFi, I read and posted to Facebook while having my chemo session.
Then it was finished for the first day. Marge took the needle out, I made some future appointments and we left.
Was I nauseous? Nope. In fact, we stopped at the Short Hills Deli and I had a cheeseburger for late lunch.
Maybe I’m just lucky. I really haven’t noticed any nausea and the only thing that might be a side effect is that I seem more tired than usual.
But I still look fabulous — all that sitting at the river has left me with a great tan! (Now that I’m taking chemo, I have to use sun block and stay out of direct sunlight, but I’ll look good until my tan fades.)
So, you’ll see this after my second chemo session. So far, so good.
Two down, 16 to go!