Skip to main content

Chronological Blog - Start from the Beginning

Loading, please wait...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

giving your 16 year old scissors

New Traditions Losing my hair - it's going to happen. When I did this in 2013, I waited to cut my hair once I was further in treatment. I didn't want to do that again. I didn't want to do it while I felt sore and bad. This time, I wanted to get rid of my hair before treatment.  Since I will have now done this more than once, it can be considered a tradition: cancer haircuts by my kids . Last time I did this, the kids were 6 and 13. So, this time around my son (23) opted not to cut, but watched some.   However, my 16 year old daughter leapt at the opportunity to cut my hair. Even though 10 years have gone by, she had to adhere to a few basic rules. Basic Rules: 1. Do not cut my ears. 2. Do not cut your own hair. 3. Do not cut anyone else's hair. These rules still hold up and are the general agreement we make before I put scissors in my kid's hands to chop on my hair!  And the tradition isn't the same without going outside (weather permitting) and listening to our
Post a Comment
Read more

happy birthday to me... almost

  Let's rewind a bit and start a few days before my birthday... I had my first cancer treatment day on October 3rd - check it out if you haven't read that blog post yet. Let's just think of it as an early birthday gift since my birthday is October 7th. Great gift, right?!? If I have to hear "Happy Early" or "Late Birthday" from another medical person, I might have to smack someone. Especially, since I have spent most of the weeks leading up to and after my birthday at a medical appointment regarding cancer. Not really loving my birthday this year. Let's just say, on my birthday, I woke up with a special chemo-side-effect-surprise at 2am. That fun surprise I will share later... Rewind a Few Days... Update But first, let's go to October 4th, the day after my grueling 8 hours of immunotherapy and two chemotherapies on the 3rd. I woke up swollen, red faced, and fevering, as well as feeling pretty crummy. I didn't have time to dwell on it since I
Post a Comment
Read more

here i go again... on my own

  It's Time for Chemo #1 Today ended up being the longest day I've ever had in treatment... ever. I started at 8am and finished around 4-4:30pm. LONG day.  I fully support getting your port ready about 30 minutes before treatment (ignore the 5-15 min suggestion on the Lidocaine box - give yourself 30 minutes to allow for more time and more numbing). So, for me, I apply the Lidocaine over my port and put a small square of Saran Wrap over it right before leaving to go to treatment. It takes me about 30 mins to get to my treatment center, so it gives it time to work. The Lidocaine helps numb the area so the needle will not hurt as much when poked and the Saran Wrap keeps the Lidocaine on your skin and not on your clothes. When I arrive to the treatment center on chemo days, it starts with a bit of bloodwork in the lab. They have to make sure your bloodwork is good before giving you chemo. I have a port, so they just hook me up with the right type of IV needle, take my blood sample
Post a Comment
Read more