Day 1 of Chemo

I’m going to attempt to catch everyone up on my chemo treatments in the next few posts. My plan was to write about my experiences as I went, but chemo has a tendency to knock you on your butt a bit :/

My first treatment was on Friday, March 2, 2012. My husband, mom, and I arrived bright and early at the NIH interventional radiology clinic to install my central venous catheter for the administration of the chemotherapy drugs. Basically, a doctor put a small catheter into my right internal jugular vein. Two ports at the end of the line could be used to give me drugs/fluids or used for blood draws. The entire procedure took about an hour (including prep time). The only pain I felt was during the numbing injections, but even still, it’s not something that I’ll look forward to each time (the line is removed during each cycle).

From the IR clinic, we walked to the oncology outpatient clinic. I was lead to a very nice, comfy chair by the window and given a menu to order breakfast. There I sat, with my freshly shaven head, waiting to start pumping toxic poisons into my body to save my life. Ironic, right?

I was immediately put at ease when I met my assigned nurse, Pia. She is an energetic, experienced, very competent woman who walks with a purpose. About 5 foot 8, attractive, and athletic, Pia made me feel like she would kick my cancer’s ass if the chemo didn’t. Without hesitation, we jumped right into the process.

Pia gave me my first high dose of Prednisone, a strong steroid that is used to help make the tumor cells susceptible to the chemotherapy. Following the Prednisone, she hooked my central line up to a solution containing an antibody called Retuximab (the R in R-EPOCH). The antibody recognizes a protein on the tumor cells called CD20. When Retuximab binds to CD20, it causes the tumor cells to self-destruct. Genius! The only problem with Retuximab is that part of the antibody is derived from mice, so the human body quickly wants to reject it. To help me tolerate the Retuximab infusion, Pia loaded me up with Benadryl, which did the trick. During the 3-ish hour infusion, I was fairly drowsy and felt like I could only talk in slow motion. The only side effect I experienced was a mild itching in my throat.

When the Retuximab infusion was complete, Pia attached my first chemo bag. It was about the size of a DVD case and contained a liquid that resembled orange Gatorade. The bag was connected to a portable pump the size of a small brick, which continuously pumped the chemotherapy drugs into my blood stream via my central catheter. Both the bag and pump were placed in a small black fanny pack. With my fanny pack securely attached to my waste, and many many drugs in hand, I was sent home.

The entire thing is truly mind-boggling. For most of my life, I never really needed to take any medicine. I would pop a few over-the-counter pain meds for the occasional headache, but even that was far and few between. Now, I am taking mega doses of Prednisone, Prilosec, colase tablets, senna fruit tablets, antibiotic pills, and anti-nausea meds, all to mediate the side effects of the toxic chemicals being pumped through my body. It’s a huge mental adjustment for me.

Tomorrow, I’ll write a bit about that first night home and the following four days on the chemo bag. Plus, I have quite the story to tell about a procedure to eliminate my blood clots. AND, much to talk about concerning what happens during the days AFTER the chemotherapy infusion…