After the support group, I charged head first into what seemed like the best plan for ME.

On October 29, we headed back to the hospital to have the port put in. This was another “minor procedure” which means it is done as a day surgery.

All went well and I went home from the hospital that day with what felt like a disc protruding from my chest. To this day I can still remember the feeling. Two things I liked the LEAST were that it hurt to lay on my stomach now (and I had always slept on my stomach) and my girls could not lay their head on my chest. This was torture for a mom with two little girls. It seriously disrupted ‘snuggle time’.

November 6, 2003. And so it begins. CHEMO Round 1

It was a Thursday. I walked into a room that I would become too familiar with over the next six months. The nurses were an amazing group of people. Such a calming presence in the midst of the storm that is raging for everyone in the Chemo (or Infusion) Room.

I met Pat first. Pat had a smile that light the room up. She laughed, she smiled, she hugged. She knew everyone’s story in the room. I don’t think she has ever met a stranger. She has a way of putting you at ease even though you are terrified of what they are about to do to your body.

On a quick side note, I am so amazed at the fact that twelve years later, the same oncology nurses work in the Infusion Room. These people are so dedicated and so precious to those of us getting treatment. The fact that you can see the same face each time you go in for a treatment is comforting.

I had no idea what to expect from the first infusion. There are so many stories out there, but every cancer is different and every patient reacts differently to the drugs.

Not knowing what to expect, I scheduled the chemo treatment for Thursday and took Friday off too in case I was sick from the treatment.

I was “lucky.” I did not have many of the side effects that can come from some of the toxic drugs that they poured into my veins. I was drowsy for a few days, but by Monday I was back at work.

I’m pretty sure everyone was surprised to see me there. If you remember from my earlier posts, I had only begun working at this position in August. Now here it was November and they had only really been around me for 2 months since I spent most of October having day surgeries and recovering and working from home.

I was truly blessed to be surrounded by a group of people who trusted my abilities and supported me with such loyalty.

As I mentioned earlier, my treatments were to be every 3 weeks. Since I started on November 6, a Thursday, my next treatment would be the week of Thanksgiving.

I managed to work everyday without any side effects from the first round of chemo. This was going to be a piece of cake! I may have been a little bit more tired, but I had not lost my appetite and I was able to focus and think to do my job.

Treatment number 2 was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. My blood work showed that my white and red blood cell counts were still good and I was able to stay on track with the infusion schedule.

I had the treatment, stopped for lunch on the way home and got ready to spend Thanksgiving at my mother-in-laws. The girls spent the night with my mother-in-law so I could rest from the treatment and we planned to go over the next day.

When I woke up Thanksgiving morning, clumps of hair were falling out. It had started the day before, but it was exceeding obvious that morning that I was not going to have any hair left by the end of the day.

My husband and I sat out on our back porch and he shaved my head. Happy Thanksgiving.