Happy Friday!

It's Friday, and I've had all but one of my appointments for the week. Good grief...every day this week to one or another! (I'm sitting here laughing about it :-) )

Monday I saw my surgeon in Two Harbors, and that went well. Serumen had decreased by 50% from the previous week. I see him again next Monday and there's every possibility that it will be for the last time. Tuesday I was in Duluth for a MUGA scan (Multiple Gated Acquisition Scan) which measures the strength/health of the left ventricle. Because one of my chemo drugs (Adriamycin) can be toxic to the heart muscle and lead to heart failure, my oncologist wanted to make sure that my heart was strong enough to withstand treatment. I'm not sure what the numbers scale is all about, but I needed to have a score of 50 and ended up with a 67. I guess I passed, eh? :-) That test was no biggie. They withdrew some blood, mixed it with a radioactive medium of some sort, then reinjected that and did the scan. It was similar to the bone scan I'd already had. Wednesday I went to see my PA because of the severe pain I was experiencing in my right shoulder and through my right chest area. I wanted to make sure that whatever was causing the pain would not delay my chemo. It turns out that I have bursitis. Okay, that's manageable. I can, however, only take tylenol for that pain.

Yesterday I had my first chemo. Needless to say, I got very little sleep Wednesday night. I was really scared and so when I dressed for the big day, I dressed with purpose. Basic jeans, a white spaghetti strap tank to make access to my port easier, and then my Grandma Woelfel's red blouse. I figured that way I would have Grandma with me physically, even though I knew she was there in spirit. The last thing I chose was the Prayer Shawl that the local Prayer Shawl ministry had made for me. I wore it on the way to and from my appointment, and even used it as a blanket while I was receiving treatment. It was made with love and prayers...and I feel great comfort when wearing it.

The first thing that happened, is that I had tubing connected to my implanted power port. The external connection looked like a button with a very slender and short needle attached to the bottom middle of it. I barely felt the poke. It was taped down and then I had blood work done (red blood and iron counts are down/very low. Red blood count was 10 and Iron should be between 49 - 150, and mine is 19 so I guess I'm anemic. Oh well. Iron supplements and Cream of Wheat here I come. *smile). After that, David and I met with my Infusion Nurse whose name was Deanna...Dee for short. Gotta love that! Family friends happened to be in the oncology office at the same time that we were, so after a short visit with them, I was taken in to get started with treatment.

The chairs were comfortable...recliners, actually :-) The first thing that happened, was someone took my lunch order. Egg salad, apple sauce, cookies and water. After that, an anti-nausea drug was administered through my port. Next came the Adriamycin, which was a "push." Dee pushed the drug into my port manually, because it needed to go in at a specific rate. The thingy she used looked like a cross between a giant syringe and a turkey baster. After two syringes of that drug were administered, the second chemo drug was hooked up on a pole and to my port. That's when I got tired and took a nap, covered up with my prayer shawl.

Afterwards, I felt pretty good; a little woozy, but not bad. I was expecting to get sick but that hasn't happened yet. I'm not counting any chickens. When we got home, we went to the pharmacy where I had 3 anti-nausea prescriptions waiting. One I take every 6 hours as needed, another is twice a day, and still another is once a day for 2 days. Grsh! It's a lot to remember...for me, at least. The final thing I have to do this week is get my Neulasta shot and that will be at 3:30 today. This shot is going to force my bone marrow to produce more white blood cells (leukocytes) to help fight off infections. Oh yea...I also got a flu shot yesterday. My very first :-) It makes me feel good and less worried about catching the flu. As far as the Neulasta shot goes, I am hoping for the best as far as side effects. I've heard some people have absolutely no trouble, and I've heard that some people experience great pain for a few days. Wait and see. With God's grace, I am hoping for the best. My next chemo is scheduled for October 22. It's a wonderful day, isn't it? Definitely a Happy Friday. Blessings!