Round 2 Complete

Chemo started at 8:30 this morning. Well, it was suppose to start around that time. The nurse began the morning by poking into my port. Before the chemo could start, blood needed to be drawn. Well, unfortunately, we could not get the port to work. For one reason or another, the blood was not withdrawing. She spent fifteen minutes trying different methods but to no avail. As a result, the nurse drew the blood by picking my left ring finger and squeezing it every few seconds. After squeezing the blood out, she would scrape my finger with the tube to collect the blood. What an annoying, but humorous experience. It could not have been fun for her either.

Thankfully, all of my counts were at appropriate levels. So, we started an IV in my left forearm. Because the vein was much more sensitive than the port, the treatment took longer today. At one point, my vein started burning because the intake of the drug was just too strong. You could see my vein getting irritated from my wrist to my elbow- quite a sight. Anyways, the nurse had to raise the amount of saline solution that was entering my vein in order to stop the pain.

Today, the senior citizens outnumbered me about 25 to 1 in the chemotherapy room. Next to me, an older gentleman was receiving his treatment. His wife would check on him periodically through out the morning. When she came in the second time, she stopped to talk to me. Her first words were: "God Bless You. You are too young for this." She went on to ask my age and discuss my situation. I am guessing that she said, "God Bless You" anywhere from three to four times. Just amazing.

After the chemo was complete, I had to go get x-rays on my chest. Obviously, I did not expect x-rays to be apart of the agenda for the morning. The intent of the x-rays were to identify any problems with the port. It is possible that the nurse just stuck to the outside of her intended target, but we did not want to take any chances. At this point, I would not be surprised to hear that I need to go back into surgery to fix the port. I am hoping to find out further information tomorrow after I receive my shot of Neulasta around 11:00.

For the greater part of the afternoon, I spent my time returning emails and phone calls regarding school board issues. Around 4:30/5:00, I settled down for a two hour nap. It took me a little while to finally get to sleep. Candy, my dog, always jumps up and sleeps with me. However, as of late, she has developed a snoring habit- much like everyone else except my mom and I in this house! Anyways, I got some rest. Overall, I have felt decent during the day and evening. I expect to hit the wall tomorrow, but you never know.

"Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude,
for the battle is not yours, but God's"

2 Chronicles 20:15