Champagne My Ass!

I had my second chemo treatment Thursday. I admit, I felt a bit light headed going into this one. Maybe "anxious" is a better description. By the time the day rolled around the nausea had been gone for about a week, I felt great and my appetite was strong. Knowing how those god-awful chemicals would make me feel again I guess set me back a bit. Very apprehensive going to this appointment.

It has help tremendously that my brother, Jeff, has been staying with us this week. Just having him around makes me happy and calm.  And I understand that he visit comes as a sacrifice to his family - particularly the maturing 12-year who needs her daddy.

In any event, here we go: the process is we first see my oncologist, Dr Rizzo, who poked around and said she believed the mass in my left boob may already be showing signs of shrinkage! Now wouldn't that be wonderful!?  I will have an ultrasound at some point in the 20-week process to better confirm the effects of the chemo, but now I'm good with this! Next, is a blood draw to confirm my levels are healthy enough to with stand the chemotherapy.

Now, if you've been following along, you know I have this nifty mediport embedded under my skin hooked to my jugular vein for such blood draws and the chemo drugs. Well, the nurse couldn't get blood to draw out of the mediport. She had me cough, raise my arm, lay down. Nothing. Well that's not good. Certainly hoped it didn't mean I'd have to have it replaced! As it turns out, there's a way to see if the mediport is till good even though it can't produce a blood draw. The nurse referred to it as a "champagne shower".

It's actually called a "steroid push" by which one of the many steroids given usually via drip is actually pushed into your system via a syringe. The point being if you feel as if your hoo-wah is sitting in a tub of hot sauce, then wa-lall! All is good with the mediport! Holy shit! Not sure where the term "champagne" comes into this mess. Thankfully that sensation didn't last long. Certainly not pleasant but I'm relieved my mediport is operational.

After a few hours, my second treatment - half way through the tough first four - is behind me. With promises to my "village" that I'll stay on top of my nausea meds this go around and a weekend appointment with an acupuncturist, I'm optimistic this round will be a smoother go. Again, many thanks for the incoming messages and packages of comfort and love that continue to arrive every day! I cannot put into words the beauty of my world right now, thanks to everyone!!