The First of Many

During my doctor’s visit on October 9th, my Oncologist mentioned that Chemotherapy, in his professional opinion, would be the first treatment option to consider.

We mapped out a treatment plan which involved seventeen chemo infusions in total.

The game plan was to start with chemotherapy, then surgery (single or double mastectomy, depending), radiation, and finally chemo pills. He mentioned that the number of chemo infusions could increase or decrease depending on the three tumors’ response to the chemo and my body’s ability to tolerate the drugs as treatment progressed. With my port-a-cath in place less than 24 hours prior, I was off to my first infusion the next day. By the way, I took a picture of it.

So here I am in a designated area of the cancer center known as the “Treatment Room.” Everyone who is in there is currently undergoing chemotherapy. There are not too many happy faces in the room; I mean, what’s there to smile about? I can’t say I blame them. I’m in pain from my surgery the day before, and I flinch as the nurse places the needle into my chest. But at least, I’m still smiling.

I’ve had some of my family members ask me how these treatments work. This is also because not everyone is allowed in the treatment room. In fact, each patient is allowed only one guest. This is mainly because chemotherapy greatly affects your white blood cell count, causing cancer patients to be very susceptible to infection. With a compromised immune system, certain protocols are followed to prevent patients from being exposed to potentially harmful bacteria or viruses that others may carry. Anyway, back to my treatment.

So I am offered a seat, which is a recliner of sorts with a special remote. There’s a TV in the corner for me to watch whatever I want. First, blood is drawn. Then there is a brief waiting period for your blood work to come from the lab in order for you to be cleared. That’s about half an hour. If the doctor looks at your labs and they are not favorable, you do not get a transfusion that day because it is believed that your body will not be able to tolerate it, being compromised already. When each patient is cleared, however, then the “bad drugs” come in. The nurse puts the needle in my chest and starts to pass me some saline (saltwater) … in the same way that you would a drip. Except, this is through the port-a-cath in my chest. Several other anti-emetic drugs are infused as well, to prevent me from throwing up when the chemo drugs are finally given. All of these preliminary transfusions take about 2 hours. The chemo drugs themselves take about another hour combined. So, this is day 1!

Let me tell you just how bad these drugs are (and no, I am not even talking about side effects yet.) They are so bad, you have to wait at least two weeks before you receive the next treatment. At least that was the case with me. The chemo drugs come in a bag that says: BIOHAZARD or CAUTION. Inside this clear plastic bag are pre-filled syringes with the drug to be administered. Before each administration, the nurse has to wear protective equipment including gloves (standard) and a gown. The gown is to prevent the drug from burning them in case of a spill during administration. Well, then I wonder: if you’re worried about it burning you, topically what is it doing to me, inside of me??? The drug is administered through the pre-filled syringe, and this is done very slowly, over a certain period of time, to prevent your veins from burning. I mean, have you heard a thing like that before? And I didn’t get one syringe. Oh, no. That would have been too easy. I got two!

“Well, we are trying to kill the tumor.” I’m here thinking, ” You will kill me too while you’re at it!”

While I am grateful for their professionalism and care, having studied some of these drugs in school, I knew what was ahead of me. As I said, I’m not even talking side-effects yet. I’m still on the case of how toxic the drugs are. And that’s exactly how chemo works. It kills the tumor, but in doing so, it kills your tissues as well. That is why patients have hair loss, mouth sores, brittle nails, etc, etc and these side-effects are actually the tolerable ones compared to others. But anyway, I digress. My special “syringe” comes in with a red drug in it, and it gets administered. This drug is called Adriamycin, or Adria for short. It is also nicknamed “the red devil”… Not to be confused with Manchester United (professional soccer team in England also nicknamed “The Red Devils”) or their crest/logo with a little red devil in it.

I am talking about the real red devil. Before I tell you about Adria, I will ask you to please click on this link to scroll through a list of a few of the glorious things that people who take this drug experience.

All in all, I had to remind myself that my doctor saw it fit to administer this drug because it was his professional opinion that the benefits far outweighed the risks.

The other drug I got administered is known as Cytoxan. For my fellow med students, this is your bad boy Cyclophosphamide. Yup! A side of hemorrhagic cystitis to go with that hair loss! lol! That day, the treatment was ok. In fact, I was still upbeat. I even went outside and got some sun with my cousin Christian who was at the hospital with me. (I’m sure you’re beginning to see a pattern here. Lol!)

You missed that part, but the video ended with me saying, “I probably won’t be able to sit out in the sun too long as the chemo progresses. My immune system will eventually get compromised.”

If this is how the treatments would be, then I think I have things under control. I’m optimistic, I’m tired but calm, I’m at ease. I’ve got this. At least for today, I’ve got this. One down, sixteen more to go.

Unfortunately, though, I can’t even begin to explain what I went through for the two days that followed suit! But I’m sure you’d like to know. Since you insist, click here to see how many items I checked off the above side effects list.

Not sure at what point of my journey you’re on? Be sure to check out The Contents Page.