First Chemo ✅ 👊
Today was a BIG DAY! Chemo is officially in my blood stream- epirubicin and cyclophosphamide to be exact 🤓. My morning did not go to plan!! Our new puppy Evie is chewing EVERYTHING!! In the first week she has chewed 2 door mats, 2 food mats, the post, a shoe, a kitchen stool AND now my glasses!!! 😩 (and no I don’t have a spare pair, that would have been too clever!). I left my ametop on the counter at home so no numb hand for me and Evie knocked my bag over so my Diet Coke rolled out! Annoying!! (It was basically all the dogs fault) 😂.
Sam came with me and it all went so smoothly and extremely fast! We were in and out in just over 3 hours. I was nervous as to how I’d cope with the scalp cooling and if I’d react to the drugs. One of my lovely friends who I trained nursing with works there and I was welcomed with a huge hug! Can’t thank the staff enough for looking after me so well and it couldn’t have gone better! Whilst I was there a patient rang the bell on finishing their treatment and it was so emotional! I cheered for them and I am in awe of that person and I am aiming to be where they are today in 4 months time! 🔔
I got to sit in a comfy recliner and was weighed and had my obs done. Once sat down and comfy I got a heat pack on my arm to ease cannulating and a cosy heated blanket! Love to be snug .. I brought a blanket of my own too! 🙈 One of the lovely girls looking after me cannulated me so fast she’s such a pro and even covered it so I didn’t have to look! No fainting but it was abit stingy! I was dosed up an hour before chemo with steroids and a strong anti-sickness- praying it works as I’m starting to feel nauseas whilst typing this and I’m only 3 hours post! As Sam says I am a ‘sicky person’ 🤢. There is a trend with sickness during pregnancy/ fertility treatment and chemo so I’m abit fu**** with my track record!
Scalp cooling came next and a size small cap was fitted! I had my hair soaked with a spray bottle which caused a few giggles! (and my face 😂🙈- you know who you are! 😉❤️) and the cap went on and then the outer one. The second it touched my skin it was a shock and tears came and that was before it was even secured and stuff! It was like unbearable brain freeze BUT it only lasted a few minutes if that. It’s like someone holding an ice cube on your skin and you just have to grit your teeth and bare the cold! It did ease off and just felt cold the rest of the time. You can’t easily have a wee on this so make sure you go before the hat goes on! Or the rugby hat as Sam was saying and that I had to go via the rugby pitch on the way home 😂.
The epirubicin was pushed through and I didn’t feel a thing! The cyclophosphamide went in a drip and could feel it going in just like a weird achey feeling but no immediate side effects! Cannula came out as soon as it was no longer needed and then had an hour and a half of cold cap after. The last 15 mins became bad again, just fighting the urge to take it off. Looking at Sam with tears in my eyes and him telling me only a few more minutes, literally counting them down! It’s just uncomfortable! Hopefully it will be worth it and I will save some hair! It was suggested to me to bring a fabric headband next time to help cushion the cap on my forehand so will be Amazon shopping soon!
I found with the cold cap it was like a migraine, bad headache and nausea. I didn’t want to watch anything or go on my phone or listen to music, it just made things worse! Having Sam there to talk rubbish and play eye spy got me through 😂. An anti- sickness has already been taken and having a duvet day with the sick bowl to hand. One day at a time now 🤞.
Positive: The first of 6 is done!!! Huge weight has been lifted- one step closer to recovery. I managed to tolerate scalp cooling which was huge as I put myself under pressure and really didn’t want to give up. I am pretty proud of myself! On the road to recovery 🌈.