Monday, April 25, 2011

April showers bring May flowers

I hope everyone had a good Easter! This year our celebration was full of firsts. I cooked my first ham and made my first batch of au gratin potatoes. Hadley made her first plate of deviled eggs and Mom DIDN'T do any dishes for the first time! The Easter Bunny left some chemo pills instead of jelly beans this year. She starts taking 8 pills a day for the next 14 days.

We had a quiet lunch and the sun peeked out enough for an egg hunt. Then the kids helped plant some flowers in Mom's planters. That was enough to wear her out and need a nap!

Today (Monday) we went to the Cancer Center for chemo. We didn't really know what to expect - the first chemo was all done in the hospital. She had the mediport (or Power Port for all you car-buffs out there) put in last Wednesday and they said it would be ready to use today. The incision is above the port, so they weren't poking in that area. She has some cream to put on 1 hour before she gets to the Cancer Center. It is suppose to make it numb so it doesn't hurt when they poke the needle through. Well, we are still learning about how all this stuff works and here is what we learned today: You can't use too much cream! 

The nurse asked if she had put the cream on and Mom said yes. So, the nurse said "on the count of 3 you'll feel a prick." One, two, three... Oh, that was a prick all right! Mom's eyes got real big and she opened her mouth real wide - but nothing came out. I think it took her a minute to catch her breath. The nurse asked "Does it hurt?" With white knuckles gripped on the chair arm and a tense voice she said "Yea, more than I expected!"

Everyone keeps saying that port is so much better... but we have yet to experience that. We are hoping Wednesday is a little better. There was a lady in the next chair getting treatment and her daughter was with her, they were both about me and Mom's ages. The mom said "Mine hurt the first time, too. The trick is to goop the cream on real thick, then it don't hurt! I didn't even feel the poke the second time."

The rest was pretty easy, she got a small bag of nausea medicine and a bag of fluids. While the fluid went in they gave her the chemo in the syringe. This time the syringe was about half the size it was that first time in the hospital (see that post and photo). Dr. Jeong said this was less-intense, so I guess that means less of it. She can already feel her mouth drying out from the chemo pills, but this time we are armed with gel, sponges on a stick and mouth spray!

We'll go back for another treatment Wednesday, so stay tuned for Wednesdays update to see if more cream does the trick!

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