day after first chemo

the first chemo went as well as we could expect, given that --

1) the onc never faxed over the orders. we had to wait an hour for this to happen. thankfully the swedish cancer institute has plenty of abraxane on hand.

2) dr. g had told me there would be no pre-meds. his actual orders included decadron (a steroid that wires you), reglan and compazine (to prevent nausea) and ativan if needed for stress. lynette, the wonderful chemo nurse, successfully negotiated with him in removing the decadron. something gave me the twitches for about 15 minutes (she thought it was the reglan and/or compazine) but a little ativan took care of that.

he also ordered some take-home meds from the pharmacy -- compazine and zofran (for nausea) and more ativan (for stress, nausea, and even pain relief)

my terrific lymphedema therapist p came to the cancer institute to give me some manual lymphatic drainage massage and review my elbow. every day i have a tiny bit more flexion in the joint, so that makes me happy. but i was so woozy from all the drugs that i could barely interact with her.

the good part about going to swedish for treatment (instead of at my onc's office) is that there are many chairs spread out all over the floor. there was enough room in my bay for rik to have a seat and for the nurse to work while he was sitting there. some bays are shared by two or three patients. there are also private rooms. it's all first come, first served, unless one has a medical need for a bed to lie on.

i went home and napped for a couple of hours. a friend from synagogue brought over dinner (chicken schnitzel, rice, salad -- very israeli). it was delicious. rik and i watched a bit of tube and he fielded some calls from family and friends. others calls went straight to voice mail.

i woke up with rik at 610 am today after a reasonable night's sleep. we did the usual shower/dress/exercise dance together, he walked the dogs and i had breakfast, then took my morning nap.

all in all, i feel about the same this morning as i did yesterday morning.

still praying the mantra:
this chemo is effective
it has minimal side effects
i tolerate it well

join me in this mantra, won't you?