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.

_ _

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

Post Chemo from One Year Love Affair With Cancer on Vimeo.

A woman with hair's thoughts on not having hair- subject to change.

"They" say nothing is sure in life besides death and taxes. Well, some things related to A/C chemo are sure and that is hair loss. I had Alopecia once in my early twenties due to stress that left me with quarter and dime sized bald patches. It's funny to think, now, about how upset it made me that I had little bald spots. 

I think the funniest realization I've had thus far is that I wont have any nose hair. One friend said I was going to inhale glitter without any nose hair to filter it and now I was going to get glitter lung cancer and am totally fucked. I've told this to so many people, I don't think I'll ever forget that she said that. 

The reason it made me so happy is because it was an example of a friend not taking this so seriously with me. I did go out and get a couple ridiculous wigs. I will probably have my head henna'd, maybe even tattooed. But I just don't think I'm going to bother with wigs and fake eyebrows (except hilarious craft fur ones made by Kris Anne!), and fake eyelashes and mirkins. Maybe every now and again for fun but not every day.

It may be difficult for people, namely strangers, to see a woman walking around with no facial hair, but why? Why can't it just be okay not to have eyebrows!? Who said eyebrows are a necessary part of feeling good about yourself? 

None of this should come as any surprise. Most of my friends know how deeply I loathe societal norms. So if you see me, sans hair, please don't feel bad. I am totally okay with this.

xoxo, Ry

My first trip to Club Chemo

This photo is from my very first chemo appointment, which for all intents and purposes is a whole lot like a spa. You get to lay in a heated massage chair and they bring you warm blankies and ice chips and juice and treats. It's really awesome. There are WAY worse places to spend a couple hours on a Friday afternoon. Plus, I felt pretty good immediately afterward. I was anticipating a busy weekend so I laid low and didn't go crazy Friday night but I felt pretty normal, until...

xoxo, Ry

Oh the wigs you'll wear...

William and I went on a wig shopping spree. Well, we bought three. Two of them are utterly ridiculous, like the one in my main photo. The other, pictured here, has been lovingly referred to as the My Little Pony wig. I haven't started losing any hair yet, although I'm told that on Adriamycin and Cytoxan chemos, I definitely will. The third wig is a sassy but a bit toned-down comparatively. I imagine wigs will fit and feel better when I don't have a mohawk underneath.

My Little Pony Wig, and William!

This picture was taken at Pizza Luce, Richfield celebrating our friend Melissa's birthday. I hadn't started chemo yet at the time of this photo and it's pretty safe to say that other than eating a lot more plants and a lot less processed foods, our lives didn't really change at all after the diagnosis, with the exception of lots of diagnostic appointments cutting into my work time. We partied has hard was we could until the bitter end. Bitter end being the beginning of chemo, of course.


xoxo, Ry