Today, I had to help the kids finish up a bit of school and last-minute packing before I left for the hospital. Becca and Nathan were getting ready to leave on our church's youth group retreat. They are roughing it this weekend, spending their time at Great Wolf Lodge with a bunch of other teenagers. Cindy, one of my neighbors, offered to drive them to the church to catch the bus while I was at my infusion. As I was flying out the door, I remembered to leave some spending money for them. Ben is having his good friend Matt for the weekend, so he doesn't mind too much not being old enough to go.
Because we are on new insurance, I had to stop by Central Registration to give them the information. They weren't as busy as the first time I was here, but I still had to wait in line, which I hoped wasn't too long since I didn't have a lot of room to spare before my appointment. I actually make it right on time for my 11 a.m. appointment, but was told they were really backed up and the nurse would come get me as soon as possible. I settled into the waiting room, made a couple of phone calls, and about thirty minutes later, was escorted to my chair.
Kris, one of the nurses I saw frequently this summer, took my vitals. Walt always got a kick out of her because she doesn't pull any punches. Once when I forgot to put numbing cream at my port site, I asked her if it was going to hurt bad. She looked at me and said, "It is a huge needle." Okay, point taken. (I haven't forgotten the cream after that and hope to not again!) Today, even though things were pretty crazy around her, she was pretty friendly. She noticed my hair growing in on the sides beneath my hat. I mentioned it was fun to see it come in, but it's not long enough to go without a hat yet. I don't feel comfortable going out with this short of hair, plus the weather was in the low thirties today, so my hats keep me warm.
My chemo appointments this summer and fall were early mornings on Thursday. Once I switched to once every three weeks and wasn't concerned anymore of the timing of side effects, I requested my appointments mid- to late morning on Fridays. It probably wouldn't take as long if I kept it earlier in the day on Thursday, but then I'd deal with a longer commute during rush hour and all the stress the extra traffic brings, so I'm going to keep with this same time frame. Plus, Fridays work better than the other weekdays to get away for an appointment. Looking at how crowded things were today, I think a lot of others find Fridays a good day for chemo, too.
Because of the dose-dense amount of Herceptin I get now that it's given every three weeks (instead of weekly while I was getting the other chemo drugs), I feel a bit of a headache and body aches on the day I receive it. Today is my first day of taking Tamoxifin, too. I've been researching side effects and wondering how I am going to react for three weeks now, since the day my oncologist gave me the prescription. I was a bit nervous as I swallowed it tonight. It'll be unclear which drug is causing what side effects tonight since both of them cause some soreness and tiredness. In the next day or so, I'll get a better feeling about how I'll deal with Tamoxifin. It's been about an hour so far, and I'm feeling pretty tired, but nothing else. I'm heading to bed soon. Hopefully tomorrow I'll wake up feeling well.
Today I swallowed pill number one with (at least) 1825 more to go. That is, if I take it for five years. Once I go into menopause for two years, I might switch to a different drug, but I will take some kind of hormone-suppressing drug for the next five years. I will be considered "cured" if I don't have a recurrence during those five years. Becca will be 19, perhaps away at college? Nathan will be 17, almost 18, and Ben will be almost 16. Our life will be a lot different then. But, I won't think about the future too often. One thing I've taken from this experience is the importance of taking one day at a time and enjoying every day as much as possible.
Before my computer runs out of battery, I'll end here. If you think of it, pray that I have minimal side effects with the Tamoxifin. It's an important drug in keeping cancer away, but I hope the side effects won't make it difficult to take. Thanks!
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