First Day

   Wow was I hyper this afternoon. Like, talking a mile-a-minute-feel-like-going-shopping-and-also-wow-check-out-that-cool-sign-hey-lets-go-get-a-burger-for-dinner hyper. Many of you might crack a joke like “how is that different from the regular you?” You are very funny and witty, haha, pat yourself on the back. Done? Good, lets get back to business.

Nervous laughter. Just like regular laughter, but fake.

   Today was my first day of chemo. I was pretty nervous and anxious at first, but also excited. It’s weird not knowing how you’re going to react or what your body will do, but I’m also happy to get this whole process started. As most of you know, I’m getting my treatment at the outpatient center at Beth Israel Deaconess. This is a pretty neat place! All of the nurses are nice, and they put you in a big room in a comfy chair. Your little section is partitioned with curtains, warm blankets are provided, and every 30 minutes a lovely volunteer comes by with a snack cart and asks you what you would like to eat or drink. I imagine this might be what first class feels like, minus the drugs (or are there drugs? I don’t know, I fly coach). 

I think I was just stretching, but now this is "the chemo dance"

First class, baby! My chair reclines all the way!

    Speaking of drugs… I start every session with a solid hour of plain old normal saline for hydration. Over the course of my 6-hour treatment, I get a total of 3 ½ liters of fluid just to hydrate me! This is to protect my kidneys from the cysplatin, but it also makes me have to get up to go to the bathroom every hour… or whenever I start to get comfortable in my chair. Today I got all my BEP drugs (bleomycin, etoposide, and cysplatin) but for the rest of the week I’ll just do the EP part, then I come back every single Monday for the B. Thought you had it rough on Mondays? Think of me!

You know it's business time when the plastic sheets come out.

Seven hours is a long time. Mom caught me dozing.

   An unexpected side-effect of my treatment is the aforementioned hyperactivity. The chemo makes me kinda drowsy and out of it (I’ll call it “chemo-brain”, Dr.K says it’s equivalent to 4 beers), but the strong steroids they give me for nausea make me jumpy and impart a “sense of euphoria”. I can conquer the world! Later on I might get sick and then throw up, but right now I feel ah-maze-ing! This is probably exactly what drinking 4Loko is like!!!!  So far that is it for noticeable side-effects. (Oh, except no one tells you chemo makes your pee smell bad, but we won’t talk about that in mixed company). I might get sick tonight, I might feel like crap tomorrow. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you allll about it! Also I tried on wigs, and there are pictures to come :-)