Randam Adam

OK, So it is day three after Chemotherapy and I wanted to do just a basic post about what happened and all that I felt and can remember.

Sorry its taken a few days to get this up, I have really been resting and just went out last night for the first time.

  So I arrived at the hospital around 8:40am and I was put into my own room. I will not always have this, just depends on how busy they are, they do have main rooms but like to let you be by yourself your first time so you can have more personal interaction with the nurses and doctors and can ask questions and they keep a closer eye on you.  It was a nice little room with a bathroom that I shared with the patient next door.

  So I was extremely nervous and my blood pressure showed it when they first took it.   But it went back to normal after I relaxed a bit.  Well my dad dropped me off and it was a lot of waiting at first. Then nurses and doctors came in to talk to me and started explaining what they were gonna do. The first thing that was done was that they sterilized my entire chest and the area around when the portacath is at. After that the lovely needle went into my chest.  Seeing as my incisions and the area around it isn't even healed yet this was pretty painful ( I'm told after it heals fully that the area basically becomes numb).  They started me off on a water (or saline drip) that basically starts flushed thru the tubes and make sure everything is going where its supposed to and that all is well inside.

The type of chemotherapy Im on is called "R CHOP" so there are four types of medicines they give me there that day and the fifth part is a pill that I take at home twice a day.

  They say that the first time getting chemo takes a lot longer cause they have to take every medicine super slow at first to make sure that you dont have any major allergic reactions.  So they say that a typical chemo session can be between four to five hours,  I was there for a little over nine. So they said my body did extremely well and had no major reactions.  So nexttime hopefully it will be shorter.

  I would say that the majority of the time I didnt feel anything beside the liquid moving through me, but the third medicine is called a "Direct IV Push" where instead of an IV Drip they have these four needles and they basically squeeze them really quickly into me.  hat one hurt a little bit, kind of a warm burning sensation inside my heart spreading out into my extremities.  It went away after a few minutes though.

My Nurse Gloria.
She was awesome, she checked on me every few minutes to make sure I was ok, and that my body was reacting harshly to the chemo.


So the main things I felt while I was there would be tiredness, soreness and Im not sure if it was my body or the room but I was hot alot of the time.  Besides that it was just alot of lying around. I had my Gameboy DS, newspapers, my web enabeled cell phone, magazines and even a pad and paper.  The only thing I really did was watch some tv and be online and text, I was pretty restless and tired, but its really hard to sleep when there are lights on and its daytime and someone comes in every few minutes to check your vitals and see how you are.
So it was a long day, but I survived, I learned a few things I can do next time, like bring ligt snacks and to wear shorts and maybe a tank top.  I met alot of great and kind nurses there and even some volunteers that were awesome as well.  I am truly blessed thst GOD  helped me find UCI and Doctor Sender and that I feel like I am getting some great care.


   So far the main effects that I am feeling would be: tiredness, a bit of soreness, a little queasy and just a feeling like I am borderline getting the flu.  Ive also had a little bit of a headache for the past few days, but just resting and drinking tons of water.  I'm also talking to people who have gone thru this recently and trying to learn as much as I can about the process and the effects of the chemo and side effects of all of the medicines.

   So please continue to pray, I'm hoping that I don't get really sick, but they say that most part feeling it in the week after the injections.  So time will tell.  If you have any questions or suggestions or just anything at all please leave a comment. I will try to be on every few days to update you guys and keep you up to date!

                                                       GOD Bless,
                                                                         ADP