First Day Of Treatment / May 1, 2017
Let me start off by saying that May 1st is such an appropriate day for me to be starting my radiation and chemotherapy treatment. I say that because May 1st is also called "May Day" and is also the term people yell when are in distress or in danger and need help. I woke up this morning calling out, "Mayday Mayday".
So how did this first day go? I am happy to say the best description I can give it is "anti-climatic". I am not saying it was an easy day, just that there were no emergencies, mishaps, or other things that could complicate the day.
Kim did come up with a really great way to motivate me through radiation. She bought 35 marbles and placed them in a jar. Each day I remove a marble from the jar and place it in my pocket. After I finish radiation, I throw the marble away. As the treatment progresses I will be able to see the marbles in the jar go down. Today, I picked out my first marble.
We got up this morning like any other day and hit the showers. We had to leave the house by 8:15 so we would not be late for our 9:20 radiation treatment. Just like any other day, we were running late. Kim, Ryan and I were pulling out a little after 8:30. While we were driving on I-4 my phone rings and the voice on the other end says he is with the radiation team and wants to make sure we know where we are going and that we are not lost. Now, is in only 9:15 so we have five more minutes before out appointment. I assure him we will be at the very minimum close to being on time.
Once we get off the interstate we drive to the building where the radiation treatment is going to be taking place at. There are two locations, one in the UF Cancer Center building and one at a nearby building. We drew the short straw and got the neighboring building. This building is affectionately called "The Bunker" by the people who work there. As pull up the the address I see the building we are going into. I now know the term "The Bunker" is not a cute nickname for this building. this name is very descriptive.
This building is a large white single story concrete building. This building was obviously made in the 1950's during the Cold War, and had to have housed missiles meant for Cuba. There are no windows in this building and it is made completely out of concrete, even the roof. The color has faded, which is hard for a white building to do, and has grey and black discoloration all over it. Well, I guess it is the perfect building for radiation treatment, or, a torture chamber.
Once we go inside is is brightly decorated with 1970's green and brown furniture. The walls were plan and undecorated. Kim looked at me and gave me a look that said, "If you want to run I have your back". I laughed and said, Let's do this.
I was brought back to the radiation machine and told to take off my shirt and lay on the table. The machine looks like a MRI machine on steroids. Ryan was invited to come back and see the machine with me and see what my procedure will look like. I lay down and the tech picks up my mask. I have to be honest, I was really hoping they had lost it. the mask is placed over my face and attached to the table. I am then told I will be in the machine longer than normal. this is because they have to confirm the numbers are right and everything is aligned. Once this happens, the doctor comes over and confirms the settings. After he leaves, I get to actually start my treatment.
For my first radiation treatment, the table slowly moves into the machine head first. I then hear a lot of whirling and rattling. This goes on for roughly fifteen minutes. The noise then stops and the table draws back out of the machine. The tech then unfastens my mask and says, "That's it, you are done". I thought, wow that was easy. I also reminded myself that the damage done by this machine is compounding and will get worse every day. I need to appreciate that this first one to two weeks will be tolerable.
Next I go to the Chemotherapy treatment rooms. I have no idea what to expect here. I am first taken back to a small room with several curtains. The nurse sits me down and cleans off my port. She then takes blood from it so they can test the numbers and make sure I am strong enough for treatment. While I am there the nurse starts telling me all of the side effects the chemo can have and says, "If you notice any of these side effects you need to let somebody know immediately".
We are then brought to the infusion room. This is a medium sized room with a reclining chair in each corner. There is a desk in the middle of the room for the nurse to sit so she can observe each of the four patients in the recliners. I then get asked another set of questions regarding my weight, any illness, bowel movements, and get reminded of the potential side effects.
The treatment then starts. I get an IV bag of fluids so that my body can flush the chemo out. An hour later my lab work came back clear so I can start the chemo. I then get a bag of steroids and Zofran anti-nausea medicine to prepare for the actual chemo drug. Once this goes in I get an IV bag of Cisplatin chemotherapy. Once the drip starts I get asked several times again if I feel okay. This drug dripped into my port for a little over an hour.
Thinking I am finally done, I am told I have one more IV of fluids to go so they can flush my system some more. This IV ran another hour. Now I am finally done. It was a long five hours but the drug was painless and I have no immediate side effects.
I was given a prescription for two anti-nausea medicines and told to take them around the clock for the first 48 hours. I can then stop them if the nausea stops. The nurse told me that I may have another bout of nausea on day four, so I need to be prepared for it.
I thought the day was over and all was good, then on the drive home we hit the infamous 5:00 traffic on I-4. While we are sitting in traffic all of the IV fluids started filling my bladder. It was getting fuller and fuller. I told Kim that we are going to have a very quick pit stop at the next exit so I can get to a bathroom. The traffic is still not moving and I am starting to panic. Kim hands me a drink cup from the cup holder and says, "Here"! Just then I saw it. A bright blue Port-A-Potty on the side of the highway only 100 yards ahead. I start pointing and yelling, "There, go there, a bathroom". Kim looks at me and tries to hand me the cup again and says, "This is cleaner". I let her know that the port-a-potty beats the cup. Oh, and just so you know it was the cleanest port-a-potty I have ever been in.
So how did this first day go? I am happy to say the best description I can give it is "anti-climatic". I am not saying it was an easy day, just that there were no emergencies, mishaps, or other things that could complicate the day.
Kim did come up with a really great way to motivate me through radiation. She bought 35 marbles and placed them in a jar. Each day I remove a marble from the jar and place it in my pocket. After I finish radiation, I throw the marble away. As the treatment progresses I will be able to see the marbles in the jar go down. Today, I picked out my first marble.
We got up this morning like any other day and hit the showers. We had to leave the house by 8:15 so we would not be late for our 9:20 radiation treatment. Just like any other day, we were running late. Kim, Ryan and I were pulling out a little after 8:30. While we were driving on I-4 my phone rings and the voice on the other end says he is with the radiation team and wants to make sure we know where we are going and that we are not lost. Now, is in only 9:15 so we have five more minutes before out appointment. I assure him we will be at the very minimum close to being on time.
Once we get off the interstate we drive to the building where the radiation treatment is going to be taking place at. There are two locations, one in the UF Cancer Center building and one at a nearby building. We drew the short straw and got the neighboring building. This building is affectionately called "The Bunker" by the people who work there. As pull up the the address I see the building we are going into. I now know the term "The Bunker" is not a cute nickname for this building. this name is very descriptive.
This building is a large white single story concrete building. This building was obviously made in the 1950's during the Cold War, and had to have housed missiles meant for Cuba. There are no windows in this building and it is made completely out of concrete, even the roof. The color has faded, which is hard for a white building to do, and has grey and black discoloration all over it. Well, I guess it is the perfect building for radiation treatment, or, a torture chamber.
Once we go inside is is brightly decorated with 1970's green and brown furniture. The walls were plan and undecorated. Kim looked at me and gave me a look that said, "If you want to run I have your back". I laughed and said, Let's do this.
I was brought back to the radiation machine and told to take off my shirt and lay on the table. The machine looks like a MRI machine on steroids. Ryan was invited to come back and see the machine with me and see what my procedure will look like. I lay down and the tech picks up my mask. I have to be honest, I was really hoping they had lost it. the mask is placed over my face and attached to the table. I am then told I will be in the machine longer than normal. this is because they have to confirm the numbers are right and everything is aligned. Once this happens, the doctor comes over and confirms the settings. After he leaves, I get to actually start my treatment.
For my first radiation treatment, the table slowly moves into the machine head first. I then hear a lot of whirling and rattling. This goes on for roughly fifteen minutes. The noise then stops and the table draws back out of the machine. The tech then unfastens my mask and says, "That's it, you are done". I thought, wow that was easy. I also reminded myself that the damage done by this machine is compounding and will get worse every day. I need to appreciate that this first one to two weeks will be tolerable.
Next I go to the Chemotherapy treatment rooms. I have no idea what to expect here. I am first taken back to a small room with several curtains. The nurse sits me down and cleans off my port. She then takes blood from it so they can test the numbers and make sure I am strong enough for treatment. While I am there the nurse starts telling me all of the side effects the chemo can have and says, "If you notice any of these side effects you need to let somebody know immediately".
We are then brought to the infusion room. This is a medium sized room with a reclining chair in each corner. There is a desk in the middle of the room for the nurse to sit so she can observe each of the four patients in the recliners. I then get asked another set of questions regarding my weight, any illness, bowel movements, and get reminded of the potential side effects.
The treatment then starts. I get an IV bag of fluids so that my body can flush the chemo out. An hour later my lab work came back clear so I can start the chemo. I then get a bag of steroids and Zofran anti-nausea medicine to prepare for the actual chemo drug. Once this goes in I get an IV bag of Cisplatin chemotherapy. Once the drip starts I get asked several times again if I feel okay. This drug dripped into my port for a little over an hour.
Thinking I am finally done, I am told I have one more IV of fluids to go so they can flush my system some more. This IV ran another hour. Now I am finally done. It was a long five hours but the drug was painless and I have no immediate side effects.
I was given a prescription for two anti-nausea medicines and told to take them around the clock for the first 48 hours. I can then stop them if the nausea stops. The nurse told me that I may have another bout of nausea on day four, so I need to be prepared for it.
I thought the day was over and all was good, then on the drive home we hit the infamous 5:00 traffic on I-4. While we are sitting in traffic all of the IV fluids started filling my bladder. It was getting fuller and fuller. I told Kim that we are going to have a very quick pit stop at the next exit so I can get to a bathroom. The traffic is still not moving and I am starting to panic. Kim hands me a drink cup from the cup holder and says, "Here"! Just then I saw it. A bright blue Port-A-Potty on the side of the highway only 100 yards ahead. I start pointing and yelling, "There, go there, a bathroom". Kim looks at me and tries to hand me the cup again and says, "This is cleaner". I let her know that the port-a-potty beats the cup. Oh, and just so you know it was the cleanest port-a-potty I have ever been in.
I am Jessica's friend, Julie. I know you will be fine because I have heard so much about your attitude. You got this. When I was ill my friends told me to imagine that my medicine was fighting the bacteria like in the movie Kill Bill. That was quite a visual. So I watched to movies and let my illness have it's A$$ kicked.
ReplyDeleteI like that visual, and even though it took two whole movies, Bill did die! Thank you for the encouraging words.
Delete