A Day in the Life of Chemotherapy

Mom in the waiting room

Deb trying to pick my nose in the chemo pod

The morning started off totally normal. I felt as good as I did before the first chemo appt. I got in a few hours of work and then went to my chemo appointment where my Mom and my Aunt Deb were joining me.

William had to work because he doesn't have much PTO, and is trying to save it up for when things are a bit rougher. 

I just accidentally licked my moms hair

I met with Katie, my super nice nurse, and found out that my tumor has already decreased in size a tiny bit!! I couldn't ask for better news after just one treatment! Unfortunately, even very quick progress won't change my treatment schedule at all as they have to make sure everything is gone even beyond what they can functionally measure.

Everything went fairly smoothly aside from the May 3rd snow storm that I'm now fairly certain I caused. Seriously... There has been significant snowfall every single time we've been into the oncology office for any type of appointment. Sorry Minnesota.. Looks like you're all going to have to suffer with me.

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Adriamycin injection 

Chemo is bizarre. You can feel it. You can taste it. It's just weird.This time I felt it a lot more immediately than before. It wasn't awful by any means during the treatment, but I could definitely tell it was instantly impacting my body.

Totally took a selfie

The chemo pod is the place to be. It's kind of like a spa, except that instead of activities that help you remove toxins from your body, you're directly injecting toxins into it. The lovely red Adriamycin on the left is fondly known as the "red devil". In addition to contributing to nausea and whatever this fuzziness feeling is, it turns my pee reddish and makes almost all of my bodily fluids toxic to others.

I do have to give them some credit at Abbott Northwestern though, because with the chemo you at least get warmed blankets, fully reclining massage and heating chairs, and snacks. You even get to roll around your little IV stand and take silly selfie pictures of yourself in the bathroom mirror. I've never done that before so I figured I could get away with it. 

I felt ok for awhile after the appointment. I stopped by the grocery store and caught up with a couple people on the phone. Then it happened! Finally! My hair started coming out in tiny bits!

I've been checking it for the last several days to see if I was losing it yet, and aside from the really weird prickly feeling, it stubbornly remained attached. Not today. I was wondering if I might be able to keep it until our head shaving benefit, but I got my answer today.

It was our friend boy Ryan's birthday today, so we went out and met up with them at Pizza Lucé. It wasn't really til then that the chemo fade really set in. Nausea and chemo brain got the best of me. We ordered early, got our check quickly, and went home to rest.

Me and 3 of 4 Harle Von Hansmeyers

Here is a short little video that William took of me. It's bizarre more than anything else. It's certainly a feeling I've never experienced before. Hopefully it doesn't last too long during this cycle...

xoxo Ry and William

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