Chemo Day Experience

Treatment for breast cancer is a rough road. I have finished round six of chemotherapy (twenty two total rounds since this "adventure" began two years ago). Here’s a small taste of what the experience is like. First, it always seems to take at least three hours. Rush around and get to the clinic on time. I check in and get an arm band, just like you would if you checked into a hospital for a procedure. Wait around a little then get called in to be weighed, then vitals taken and an RN comes in to either access my port or place an IV in my arm. Since I didn’t want my port accessed (that’s a whole other painful drama!) they put an IV into the vein in my right wrist. I can’t use the left arm for blood draws or blood pressure due to lymphedema risk. Everyone is different with how they feel pain, but let me tell you that it HURT when that IV went in! It felt sort of like an ice pick getting jammed in my arm. After it’s taped down a couple of vials of blood are drawn and sent to the onsite lab. They always check how your blood levels are before doing chemo. Doctor comes in and we talk and he checks me over, looks at my blood results, and makes recommendations for future treatments. Then it’s off to the “chemo lounge” for infusion. We walk in and I scan around looking for an open chair. There are about ten lounge chairs that face each other around the room in a circle. Everyone tries to respect each other’s privacy and space as much as possible and eye contact is limited. I pick out a chair and Mr. gets a small fold up chair and sits it next me, puts down our cooler with ice and water, and bag of other “stuff” like music player, scarf whatever I can bring to make the experience a little more comfortable. Nurse starts the IV of saline and I get that awful smell taste from it, usually I remember to pop a Tic Tac into my mouth which masks the taste a little. We wait about thirty minutes or so for the chemo to get measured and mixed. My hand and wrist and arm are aching from the IV and liquids going in. The nurse finally brings over the bag of Abraxane and attaches it to my infusion line, first scanning my wrist band and verifying my identity for safety. It takes about thirty minutes to an hour to finish. The chemo has a milky white color to it and I try not to cry as the poison snakes down the line toward my arm. At this point it’s critical that I drink ice water and keep my mouth, hands, and head as cool as possible to ward off the nasty burning sensations and keep the Abraxane from attacking my nerves (toxic peripheral neuropathy). Even though I have a warm blanket on me, I am usually shivering because, stress, cold infusion liquids, and drinking cold water, etc. But I would rather be a little chilly during infusion than have lots of pain later when I get home. I have my little mp3 player and headphones to try and distract myself with music. It doesn’t usually help much. Trying to keep my core warm, edges cool, and trying not to get nauseous. Back and forth to the restroom a few times (which requires some major skills while wheeling an IV pole). Finally the machine beeps that I’m done. IV is taken out (ouch again), and we gather our stuff and head home feeling like crap. Then it's time to rest, deal with pain and try to recover before going back again for another round.