Thank you so much for reading my first blog post. I have truly felt so much love and support after my first blog and I cannot thank everyone enough. I am going to try to keep up with my journey here, so I hope you continue to enjoy it!
I have 6 rounds of chemo over the next 6 months. Each round is 2 treatments and each treatment is every other week.
I just finished my first round of chemo (yay!). Two treatments down, 10 more to go! It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise.
My first chemo treatment was Thursday, May 3rd. I had to arrive at 7:30 for labs, I met with my oncologist at 8:30 and started chemo a little after 9. Both my parents came, my little brother, and 2 of my really close friends, Morgan and Brian. I was so lucky to have a group of people with me. Unlucky for them, I was only able to have 2 people sit with me at a time. They didn't seem to mind switching out though.
I had the sweetest nurses with me throughout the day. The woman who drew my blood made me feel so comfortable and made me know that everything was going to be okay. Then my chemo nurse just made sure everything went smoothly and made the whole thing seem so easy.
I started with my premeds and then that's when Morgan and Brian came to sit with me. Morgan and a couple of my best friends had surprised me with this amazing video of all of the people who were supporting me and sending their support. It made me cry. It was one of the sweetest things any one has anyone done for me.
My parents came back for me to actually start chemo and they switched out with Morgan and Brian for most of the time. One thing I did learn about chemo is that getting the chemo drugs is kind of like going out for a night of drinking. After a while, you have to go to the bathroom and you don't want to break the seal. Once you go to the bathroom, it's like you have to go every 5 minutes or so. The thing about chemo is that you're hooked up to a machine, so you have to bring the machine with you. Once that chemo drug is done, it starts to beep at you. So here I am just trying to go to the bathroom and my machine is beeping at me... talk about stressful. At around 2 that day, I had finally finished my first chemo treatment and I was ready to conquer the world. Well, I more just had a couple days of feeling nauseous and eating a lot of bread. By about Tuesday, I felt like a whole new woman. I felt like myself again and my lymph nodes that were visible were already looking smaller if I do say so myself.
Also, I have to mention that my company surprised me before my first chemo treatment and they all wore "violet" or a shade of purple for me! I was beyond surprised and it was so sweet of them to support me like that. My company also has another office in Nashville, and that office also wore "violet" for me before my second treatment. I have such an amazing support system in my office and with my company. I am so lucky.
My second chemo treatment was this past Thursday, May 17th. Before going to chemo, we went to look at hats... just in case I lose my hair. It isn't a guarantee that I will though so that is a good sign. They told me "I might not lose it all". Promising, right? Anyways, this time labs started at 11:30, then oncologist at 12:30 and then chemo. It was a whole day process. I did have the same nurse as I did the first treatment, which made be feel good.
Now a couple days later (almost a week), I am feeling back to myself, no longer tired and nauseous, and my neck (where most of my visible lymph nodes were) almost looks normal again.
The real question now is.. will I lose my hair?
Love,
Sam
I have 6 rounds of chemo over the next 6 months. Each round is 2 treatments and each treatment is every other week.
I just finished my first round of chemo (yay!). Two treatments down, 10 more to go! It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise.
My first chemo treatment was Thursday, May 3rd. I had to arrive at 7:30 for labs, I met with my oncologist at 8:30 and started chemo a little after 9. Both my parents came, my little brother, and 2 of my really close friends, Morgan and Brian. I was so lucky to have a group of people with me. Unlucky for them, I was only able to have 2 people sit with me at a time. They didn't seem to mind switching out though.
I had the sweetest nurses with me throughout the day. The woman who drew my blood made me feel so comfortable and made me know that everything was going to be okay. Then my chemo nurse just made sure everything went smoothly and made the whole thing seem so easy.
I started with my premeds and then that's when Morgan and Brian came to sit with me. Morgan and a couple of my best friends had surprised me with this amazing video of all of the people who were supporting me and sending their support. It made me cry. It was one of the sweetest things any one has anyone done for me.
My parents came back for me to actually start chemo and they switched out with Morgan and Brian for most of the time. One thing I did learn about chemo is that getting the chemo drugs is kind of like going out for a night of drinking. After a while, you have to go to the bathroom and you don't want to break the seal. Once you go to the bathroom, it's like you have to go every 5 minutes or so. The thing about chemo is that you're hooked up to a machine, so you have to bring the machine with you. Once that chemo drug is done, it starts to beep at you. So here I am just trying to go to the bathroom and my machine is beeping at me... talk about stressful. At around 2 that day, I had finally finished my first chemo treatment and I was ready to conquer the world. Well, I more just had a couple days of feeling nauseous and eating a lot of bread. By about Tuesday, I felt like a whole new woman. I felt like myself again and my lymph nodes that were visible were already looking smaller if I do say so myself.
Also, I have to mention that my company surprised me before my first chemo treatment and they all wore "violet" or a shade of purple for me! I was beyond surprised and it was so sweet of them to support me like that. My company also has another office in Nashville, and that office also wore "violet" for me before my second treatment. I have such an amazing support system in my office and with my company. I am so lucky.
(Clearly I didn't get the purple memo)
My second chemo treatment was this past Thursday, May 17th. Before going to chemo, we went to look at hats... just in case I lose my hair. It isn't a guarantee that I will though so that is a good sign. They told me "I might not lose it all". Promising, right? Anyways, this time labs started at 11:30, then oncologist at 12:30 and then chemo. It was a whole day process. I did have the same nurse as I did the first treatment, which made be feel good.
Now a couple days later (almost a week), I am feeling back to myself, no longer tired and nauseous, and my neck (where most of my visible lymph nodes were) almost looks normal again.
The real question now is.. will I lose my hair?
Love,
Sam
I have a co-worker that uses some kind of gel when she gets her chemo to ensure she keeps her hair. I’ll ask her more about it for you cause it definitely works.
ReplyDeleteErin