Chemo #2: I'm Bringin' Sexy Back!

Chemo session number two was not as easy as the first one. The beginning of the day was okay, but the hours following my infusion were horrible.

I know that I have several tattoos and have/had many piercings as well, but something about the whole lets-put-a-gigantic-thumbtack-looking-needle-in-your-chest just does not appeal to me. Luckily, my surgeon prescribed me nifty lidocaine cream that you put directly over your port. You rub about a nickle-sized thick, dollop of the stuff over the area (on and around it!) and seal it in with a little bit of saran-wrap. The saran-wrap ensures that the cream does not get rubbed off and seals it against your skin for maximum numbing effect. This should sit on your port for an hour. When I arrived at the SCCA (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance), the first thing they always want to do is draw blood and analyze it for WBC and other such science-y stuff. Fortunately, when they draw blood, they can also do it through your port, so all you need is one prick and it's over! (That's what she said! HAH!)

When it was time for my blood draw and port accessing, the nurse asked me right away if I wanted lidocaine. I was happy to report that I had already numbed myself for the procedure before coming. (It was nice to know that they offered it if for some reason I had not done it myself) This time, I asked that the nurse use a different bandage and explained how the last one literally fused itself to my skin. She told me that they had special bandages for people with really sensitive skin. This bandage, later on, was so much easier to remove than the first. I am SO glad that I asked for it.
Anyway, she took off my saran-wrap, scrubbed the area with this really weird looking sanitizing wand with alcohol on the end. It looked a lot like those little toilet scrubber things you see on TV. She scrubbed for a good long time. I guess take no chances, eh?

Then she put on a fresh set of gloves and opened up all of the packaging needed for the procedure. The poked the area to ensure it was sufficiently numb and gave me a 1-2-3 countdown. The poke was something more like a lot of pressure. As if someone took their index finger and pushed it into the space just beneath your collarbone. It was a little weird, but I didn't really feel much. I was glad for that! What was even more amazing was that she took my blood without me even knowing. I was just so focused on the pressure that I didn't even notice that she took it. She also slyly covered up the container that held my blood sample with one of the wrappers from the materials she used. I didn't even see it, which was good because I was already feeling a little squeamish. I am a lidocaine cream convert!!

Later on in the infusion room...
Instead of receiving all of my anti-nausea drugs by IV, half of them were given to me in tablet form just before my infusion. Personally, this did not work out well for me. During chemo, I was fine but about 3-4 hours after, I was doubled over in pain and severely nauseated all evening. I took a hot bath and popped a Zofran (one of my many anti-nausea drugs). It soon kicked in, but it still had the effect of making me feel like crap for the rest of the evening and the next day. I need to learn to overlap my nausea medications so that I am never feeling like crap again.

Anyway, two cool things happened to me today. I bought myself a rockin' new pair of converse and my awesome cousin, Melissa, sent me TWO sweet wigs from my wishlist! Check 'em out!

I LOVE both of them! Which do you like? Take the poll!



And here are the chucks...Ready for some cancer ass-kicking! (Complete with skull and burning heart)


p.s.: Happy New Year!