First day of chemo

I was pretty bummed this morning anticipating my first day of chemotherapy. But the physical effects so far are minimal and for now, it's mostly a matter of getting to know the details and working it into a routine. The doctor said I might have fever tonight, so I've been taking Tylenol proactively every six hours, and so far, nothing.

The complete treatment cycle takes eight weeks; six weeks of drugs followed by two weeks of rest. During the two weeks off, I’ll have another total-body PET scan. I’m not sure what they’ll be looking for to determine whether to continue or not, but based on their measurements, we’ll repeat the treatment cycle up to a total of four times.

The six weeks of drugs is actually two three-week mini-cycles. I started today with the experimental drug, Genasense. A nurse inserted a special needle through my skin and into the cap of the mediport. A long tube runs from the needle through an electronic pump, into an IV bag. The pump is a 4x5 inch brick that sits with the medicine bag in a fanny pack that I wear around my waist or as a shoulder purse. The pump constantly monitors and times and dispenses the proper amount of drug. I don’t feel it flowing or anything, but every once in a while I hear a low sound, like a camera lens going into focus.

I’ll be hooked up to this pump for seven days. Next Monday, when the IV bag empties, I’ll be back in the doctor’s office to remove it, and to get an infusion of another drug, Abraxane. That’s it for IV drugs until the fourth week, when I start back on the Genasense pump. During the entire six weeks of drugs, I’ll take one Temodar capsule per day.

Those are the treatment details. Boring as they may be, with names that are hard to remember, it’s comforting for me to have it spelled out into a plan of action. It’s a pattern and a rhythm I can follow. My visits to the doctor’s office will become routine.

There’s a special floor for the IV treatments where I sit in a private “room”. They call it a room, but it’s only three walls and a curtain. Still, it’s private enough, with a reclining chair, a phone, and a TV that I didn’t watch. I brought my computer and hacked into their network to get my email. It was actually kind of a relaxing day, apart from all the needle sticks.

Now I have to figure out how to share my life with this package of medical electronics I’m carrying around for the next week. "Get creative," the nurse said.

The tube is long enough to leave the pack outside the shower while I'm inside, and I can thread the tube under my clothes pretty successfully. But it's going to make sleeping a little tricky. I'm mainly afraid I'm going to somehow tangle in it and pull the needle out! And there's the issue of what to do if or when I start beeping, which can happen if the tube gets kinked. So far it hasn't happened, but I imagine it can be embarrassing. You know, like a cell phone going off in a quiet lecture hall.