Two down - six to go

Last Monday I had the second chemo treatment. This post has been a long time coming, but this time chemo kicked my a--! I'm not really sure if it was the chemo or the shots on Tuesday and Thursday or trying to work 10 hour days. I guess all three combined to wipe me out. I was too tired every day to think about blogging or to do anything. Wednesday I went to work, but soon went home. I tried again Thursday and stuck it out all day, but that was a mistake. Friday I was too weak to move all day. I just sat in the recliner.

You can't imagine how tired and weak you can be. I felt like I was 100 years old.

That's not the really interesting thing about this second treatment though. No, the fun began Monday morning when I went for chemo. Luke went with me, even though I thought I could manage on my own. That was the good thing that happened that day. We arrived at the Cancer Treatment Center about 10 am. Each time the first thing they do is take blood, then you see the doctor or nurse practitioner, then have the chemo. This time, however, the substitute nurse (Mary wasn't in) poked the needle into the port only to have it hit a wall. She poked and poked again and could not get in. Then she grabbed another nurse who also poked around. Yes, that's right, they were stabbing me in the chest with a needle over and over. Granted it's a tiny needle, but still.

Anyway they wanted to know if the port had been accessed before. Of course, I told them. Patty, over in chemo had no trouble. So they called Patty and she came in and said, uh oh, the port turned around. It's backwards. It happens.

What does this mean? I'll tell you. It meant I spent the day waiting on radiology to take x-rays to make sure it was backwards. Then waiting on CT because the dang thing is plastic and can't be seen on the x-ray. Then waiting for the radiologist to come and decide if he wanted to try to turn it around. (Don't ask how, I don't want to talk about it.) Then finally, after all day, they had to inject the chemo right into my arm. Have I mentioned before what terrible veins I have?

Patty put a hot cloth on my arm. I guess that makes the vein easier to stab. For the first drug Patty told me that if the vein is punctured and the chemo leaks it'll cause third degree burns and she instructed me to scream if I felt any pain or burning. These are her words, "don't be brave, scream immediately." These are not words you want to hear when someone is sticking a needle/tube in your arm.

But, thankfully, she knew her stuff and I wasn't burned. Luke ran out and got us some dinner and we ate while I had the second drug. We finally finished and could go home a little after 5 pm. That's right, seven hours at the hospital. Then we had the drive home. It was a long day and if Luke hadn't been there, I might have mortally wounded one of the x-ray techs.

You are probably wondering how the port got turned around. Patty said probably because I sleep on my side and I'll have to stop sleeping that way. Is she kidding? Have you ever tried to change the position you sleep in? What new hell will I have to endure?

That's not the end though. The port is still backward. I have to have surgery again to turn the port around or replace it before my next chemo treatment. And they have to stick my arm again to draw blood before surgery. The joy never ends.

The good thing that happened: Saturday was our local Jazz/R&B music Festival (easy on the jazz) and the day was beautiful. I felt good enough to go out there for a couple hours and see Luke perform with the NSU Jazz Band (probably the only actual jazz at the festival) and see a few other bands too. Not to mention seeing friends we haven't seen for a while.

Things I want to do: Can you believe I can't think of anything I want to do?