One Down, Five to Go!: Friday, April 24, 2009

I'll need six rounds of chemo, each 21 days apart, to get rid of the dreaded "C." However, rounds three and four will be broken up by about eight weeks so that I can prepare for and recover from a hysterectomy.

I had my first chemo on Friday, April 24. All things considered, it went really well. In fact, as I told many people afterward, it was one of the most relaxing days I've had since March 10. I just read and relaxed the whole time in my chemo chair (think mani/pedi chair). I got in there (there is Dr. E's office chemo room, which I'll post photos of later) at about 9 a.m. and was greeted by my fabulous chemo nursing team. These women are some of the sweetest humans you could ever encounter and I was happy to treat them to some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. (Thanks for baking them, Mom!)

My nurse for the day, Rosemary, started infusing me with my pre-meds (steroids, anti-nausea, and Benadryl) at about 1o a.m. That infusion took 30 minutes and then she waited another 30 minutes to start my Taxol infusion to make sure all the pre-meds were in my system. The Taxol infusion started at about 11 a.m. and because it was my first time, they pushed it slower than usual so it took three and a half hours. (They push it slow so they can watch for an early allergic reaction, which I didn't have.) After the Taxol infusion finished, it was time for the Carboplatin! Fortunately, that infusion only took about an hour. Rosemary flushed me when with saline when the Carbo finished and I was all done with the treatment by about 3:45 p.m.

Later that night, I enjoyed a yummy dinner with several girlfriends at Carlyle to celebrate Melissa S.'s birthday, as well as the happy news that she's expecting her second baby! I was tired by about 9 p.m. (but what else is new, right?!) but otherwise, felt pretty good.

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