Diagnosis and My First Week of Chemo

Monday March 19th we met with my Chemo Dr Gregory Litton and was relieved to learn that they were finally able to diagnose my type of cancer. We were excited as this was the 4th appointment in an attempt to find out the type of cancer this was and I was starting to worry that they were going to run out of biopsy sample and ask for another which although completely doable I didn't really want to go through that again so soon. Also this allowed us to finally know what type of Chemo I would be getting in detail and get started on treating it. I was excited and grateful to learn that They type of cancer I had was Synovial Cell Sarcoma (as the blog is named)  and not Ewings or one of the other three that they were thinking. The biggest relief is that even though this is still an aggressive cancer it is treated with not only less Chemo drugs in the mixture but the Sessions went from 14 to 6 I was so excited about this because less Chemo is SO awesome and this was half what they had me expecting! Also before I was told that due to the type of Chemo for the Ewings I would want to plan on not ever having my own Children or tying to harvest eggs because it would put me into Menopause at 25 but this Chemo it is some day possible to have my own kids so that was exciting to hear as well. I was told I would still loose most my eyelashes and eyebrows as well as hair but this was no surprise or disappointment and with all the better news It was a very exciting day! 


They scheduled me to start Chemo right away so on Tuesday March 20th at 8:30am I had my first experience with Chemo and having my Port accessed for the first time. 


Having the Port accessed was a little nerve recking because even though it had been in a week I still had a lot of swelling so normally (if you remember from the images from the Port blog) they have those three little nipples that they fill and know exactly where to stick you but with the swelling the first nurse could not tell, she was vey nice and went to get a more seasoned nurse to take a better look, this nurse also was very kinda and was able to locate it on the first try. The numbing cream they give you and it is put on an hour before the appointment is awesome I really didn't experience any pain I am just kind of a squeamish person so the idea is all the freaks me out. From this access they were able to first take some blood and then administer all the fluids and finally the Chemo. 


They started me out with an anti-nausea IV, followed by a steroid IV, and then a big bag of fluids all this took about 2 1/2 hours to get into my system then it was time for the Chemo. I receive Chemo 4 days of the first 3 days I get two types of Chemo mixtures then on the 4th day just one. The first three days I get a Chemo in this syringe  that is bright red like kool aid -This is the Chemo I have the hardest time with just the bright red color is intimidating. First I get the Red Chemo and this is pretty fast to go in taking maybe 10 min at the most as it just comes in a large syringe and is put right into my IV line. After the red Chemo I get a bag of a clear Chemo Mixture that takes about 2 hours to go through my system this is the Chemo that I get all 4 days. I am at Chemo for these 4 days anywhere from 4-5 hours.

During the week I am on Chemo I am very out of it I normally sleep during the Chemo and the rest of the day as well. The Chemo makes me extremely nauseous I feel constantly like I am on a boat and the water is rough but I have been very blessed to only have thrown up once so far (of course it happened to be at my parents house on there nice blanket I felt bad about that) While on Chemo they have my port accessed at night so that I can get assistance with getting my fluids which is nice because water that I use to love is so difficult to get down. My husband is so sweet and takes care of everything with this. He will flush the line with Saline which tastes terrible its like windex in your nose and Mouth. I put in a mint tick tac just before this to help with the flavor and smell. 

Then he hooks up the IV pump right to the Port access at night and it does about 10 hours of fluids. Once It is done it will beep at about 5am and he will take it out, flush the line again and then also do a flush with something called Heparin that helps to keep the line from clotting. I can not even express my gratefulness to my Husband who does this every day along with my shot every 12 hours and gets me any food drink or anything else I need. He does so uncomplaining and with a loving kindness every time and I am grateful to have someone who loves and takes care of me so good! 

 I don't eat a whole lot the week of Chemo but there are some funny little things I have discover help with the nausea and allow me to get some form of calories The funny thing is these are foods I don't normally care for.


The First is Pudding packets in Tapioca and Chocolate Vanilla layers. 

 














The Second is Apple Juice normally I have always felt apple Juice is too sweet but something about the Chemo makes it taste salty to me and it is so good! 

SmartFood had been the strangest of the Chemo foods, the SmartFood helps with the bad taste in my mouth and the nausea but must be eaten in two popcorn kernels if it is more or less it doesn't work strange I know!!!! 

Warm salt water has been another thing I have been loving! I swish with the warm salt water and it helps with the bad flavor for about 15 min. It is also supposed to help with mouth sores that you get during the Chemo luckily I have not gotten any sores as of yet! 

I want to thank everyone who took a turn to come and be with me during Chemo so that my husband could take care of his responsibilities at work I am so blessed to have so many people willing to help!