Today was the much anticipated first session of chemo treatments. If you're like me, you've heard people talk about "chemotherapy" most of your life. And I always thought I knew what that meant. But unless you've experienced it with a loved one or you've experienced it for yourself, it's hard to understand exactly what is meant by "she's getting chemo". I also thought of it as one general treatment "she's getting the chemo" like "she's getting the Tylenol". And I thought everyone who gets chemo loses their hair or is nauseous all the time or is tired all the time. What I'm discovering is its really about the drugs that are infused into your body. And that concoction of "chemo" drugs is decided by your oncology team based on the kind of cancer you have, how aggressive it is, and what they are trying to accomplish with the treatment.
Because of the kind of breast cancer I have (triple negative), because it can be aggressive and spread, and because it is hormone-negative (can't be treated with anything but chemo drugs) the course set for me by my oncology team is a little on the intense side. They're not playing around.
So, we showed up for our "chemo" appointment this morning unsure what to expect exactly. It's really three appointments I had. First, is the appointment to have labs drawn, as they will be checking all sorts of levels in my body and comparing them as treatment continues over the next few months. I had a port surgically placed in my chest a couple weeks ago, which allows them to draw my blood through it and infuse the chemo drugs through it. An hour before we arrived at the appointment, I was instructed to place a large blob of Lidocaine cream over the port site and cover it with plastic wrap, so it would numb the site for when the needle was placed into it.
The next appointment was to meet with the nurse practitioner on my oncology team who went over the labs with me, explained after care, and answered any questions that I had.
The next appointment was where I actually had the chemo drugs infused into my body through an IV line hooked up to the port. That one was the longest appointment of the day, scheduled for 2-1/2 hours. The nursing staff couldn't have been kinder to me. They got me set up and explained the drugs that they would be infusing. Several drugs were going to be infused. The plan was first an anti-nausea drug, then another anti-nausea drug, a steroid, and two heavy-hitter chemo drugs after that. They told me if at anytime I felt like I was having a reaction or things didn't feel right to let them know immediately. The first drug went off without a hitch, but within 10 seconds of receiving the second anti-nausea drug, I could tell something was wrong. The only words I could articulate were, "I'm feeling a rush here." I was wearing a bright red sweater today, and I was told by my husband and the nursing staff that I immediately turned the same color as that sweater. Also, my blood pressure skyrocketed (I was never told exactly how high the blood pressure got, but I could tell that the nursing staff was concerned). On my end, internally it felt like my head and body were going to explode. The nursing staff quickly moved into action. The main nurse helping me that day had anticipated all the reactions that could happen for each drug and had antidotes, if you will, lined up on the counter for each one. The drug was immediately stopped and IV Benadryl was given to me. It took awhile to get the blood pressure to come down, so the process was paused for about an hour while the reaction was being addressed. I remember that I needed to answer questions through the process, but thinking and responding was incredibly difficult for me. It took immense effort to think and talk. After the reaction was under control, the nurse looked at me and said, "You will never receive that drug again. This will now go in your file as you are allergic to this drug". I was relieved by this piece of news. Now, they were ready to continue infusing the rest of the drugs. Since I had the Benadryl in my system, I pretty much slept through the rest of the infusions and no other reactions arose. We ended up leaving there about two hours later than we thought we would, but I was feeling okay again by that time.
I remember praying intensely to God during the time of the reaction. And I remember praying for the ability to answer questions going forward because I was finding it impossible to do it on my own. I'm so grateful to God that He met me where I was in that moment and helped me. And I'm grateful to Him that He placed such capable medical staff in my path during this experience. God is faithful, and I am grateful.
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