Chemo Treatment 1 - Day 1

 The morning of the first treatment was here. We had enjoyed the weekend and Christian has been feeling almost back to normal other than having her new accessories (Ileostomy Pouch and Port).

We arrived at the Cancer Center at 7:45am this morning. She got checked in, had the IV installed into the port, had blood drawn for the labs, and met with Dr. Paluri.

He answered a few more small questions we had, and we were off to the Pod Room.

We got put in our Pod, and a co-worker of Christian (that manages the Cancer Clinic) had brought a nice basket of assorted goodies, a few really nice blankets, and a pair of super comfy slippers. That really made the first treatment experience start off awesome. Shout out to Stacy Blue for the awesome "welcome" gift. 

We also got put in a pod that had a window with a nice view of the dreary day outside. It was really nice, and much better than a pod without a view.

They started to give her the pre-meds, which are mainly anti-nausea medicine, and steroids that you get before the chemo.

After the pre-meds had been given, we began the first chemo drug. 
It was Irinotecan along with Folinic Acid.  It lasted 90 minutes.

She did a word search, and played some games on her phone. We had a few of her co-workers come and visit as well. Kelly & Valerie brought us some Chic-fil-a for us to eat for lunch. Dr. Farland paid for the it so we thank all for that!

After it was complete, the nurse brought the second chemo drug in, and explained how it is administered and gave follow up instructions on it. 

It is Fluorouracil (also known as 5FU). Unlike the Irinotecan, this drug needs to be given slowly (over a 48hr period). 

In order to do so, they put it in a small pump. That pump is hooked up to the IV line connected to her port. The pump slowly infuses the 5FU over the 48hr period until it is done. Then we will need to go back and have it un-hooked, remove the IV line, and flush the port.

We will be going back on Wednesday to have that done.

After having the pump hooked up, and we were given the instructions, we were ready to leave. 

She walked a few hallways to say hello to a few more co-workers she has not seen in over a month and they were all very happy to see her. She has a huge support team on that front, not to mention the tons of other friends and family that have reached out to us. It is a good feeling to know there are so many people that care.

We walked back to the car with all of the gifts from Stacy, and headed home around 1:30. She feels like normal as of now. We had leftover chicken alfredo with garlic knots for lunch, and relaxed. We just went for a nice 1/2 mile walk in the neighborhood with our dog.

Dr. Paluri said that most likely it will be a day or so before she starts feeling anything from it, and that Wednesday & Thursday will probably be when she feels it the most. Everyone's side effects will be different, and we are hopeful that they will not be difficult. So far today, everything is normal, other than she has another accessory (5FU pump).

We will see what the next few days hold, and go from there!