Health and Fitness : Laugh With Kathy - First Day of Chemo

*In recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, Dean and Val have asked me to share some stories from my book Laugh With Kathy, Finding humor in the journey through breast cancer. Each week day during October, I will post an excerpt from my book on Vinton Today. Our hope it that these articles will give you a glimpse into what it takes to beat breast cancer. Proceeds from books sold in October on Amazon and from my website will benefit the Survivors of Benton County. Please note that I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, had two years of treatment and I am now living cancer free. www.laughwithkathy.com Thursday, November 15, 2012: I have been trying to decide what to say about my very, very long first day of chemo. I arrived at nine o'clock and left at two thirty. Danielle was able to be with me the entire time. Her nursing supervisor allowed her to take a few hours off so that she could finish treatment with me. We managed to play nice with everyone since it was my first day. Actually, Danielle played nice and listened to all the instructions. I, on the other hand, zoned out at some point and resorted to just smiling and nodding. I was in information overload. I had so many visitors"�social services, nutrition, patient relations, and on and on. I pretty much tuned people out until I heard the word "massage,"� and then I perked up and said, "Heck yes, I want one!"� And each person had a business card and printed materials to go along with their talk. I'm going to have to buy a special business card holder for all my physician cards and cancer center cards. And as Gene said, I'm going to need a bigger folder for breast cancer. We had a lovely private chemo room with a window, and the chair had seat heaters and vibrators! You can't hardly beat that. And there was a snack lady. About once an hour, she came around with a basket of goodies to tempt and treat me. All those forbidden snacks over the years were in one handy basket that came waving in front of me. It was just too much! One of my trigger foods that I don't allow in the house is Chex Mix, because I just can't stop eating it. And there it sat, in not one but two flavors in the basket. And they were free! Is this heaven? Nope, still chemo, but it comes with perks. I sipped and snacked for five hours. Oddly enough, the thing that tasted the best was the little container of cottage cheese that I shared with Danielle. (By the way, visitors get access to the snack basket as well. Oh boy! Wait till I tell Gene.) Chemo starts with all the premeds: antinausea and so on. Chemo premeds are the various medications given to me to help reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. It seems like there are dozens of IV bags, and some drip for ten minutes, some five minutes, and the last one is an hour. And then there is the "direct push"� chemo meds that come in a hazardous materials bag. I have to say, it took everything in me to sit still and not panic when that medicine was given to me. For heaven's sake, it says "Hazardous Material"� on the bag, and they want to put it in my IV? During one infusion, I was instructed to eat ice chips or a Popsicle during the infusion. This particular chemo medication attacks soft tissue, and the nurses wanted to protect my gums, cheeks, and tongue. Studies have determined that sucking on ice chips or cold products help reduce the damage to those soft tissues because the cold ice slows the blood flow to these tissues. I chomped on my Popsicle like my life depended on it. The day was long, but I survived my first chemo and was able to drive myself home. I'm now 25 percent done with phase one of chemo. Phases two and three are too far off to worry about. (Note, I underwent three different phases of chemo lasting 15 months)