Yesterday was another huge day. It was the first of a series of chemotherapy sessions at The Medical City. But as if that wasn't enough, we had to be in Cardinal Santos in the morning, for another CBC test for Sabine PLUS a Dengue Test as recommended by her Pediatrician. All's well that ends well, Sabine was declared negative of dengue based on test results. It's a virus and she's recovering from it well with her anti-biotics. I wanted yesterday morning to be as relaxed and quiet as possible, because the chemo was making me feel a bit more nervous than I was in the past few days. All I could think of while I was praying yesterday was, Hay naku, Lord bilib na bilib ka talaga sa lakas ko! But thank you for sparing my little girl!
It was N who stayed with me yesterday, instead of Mama who originally wanted to be there. But Sabine got sick and still stayed home from school yesterday, so Mama thought it would be better for her to stay with the precious grandchild. It turned out to be the best for everyone. Mother's know best? :)
Here we are at the Chemo Unit's big waiting area, waiting for a cubicle to become available. We were told that some of them were closed due to ongoing construction work on the floor above them.
My bodyguard opening the door for me hehe!
My Oncologist, Dr. Marina Chua-Tan, prepping my vein for the infusion. She has the softest, kindest voice and explains everything with so much patience. It was N's first time to meet her yesterday, she was generous with the information she shared to him.
These photos are giving me goosebumps :/
For the looooooongest time I wasn't afraid of needles. They were never a source of stress for me, unlike some people I know. But since the surgeries, I've looked at needles from a less-comfortable point of view. Although my doc used the plastic type yesterday, it hurt just as much as the traditional one when it was inserted. To be fair to her though, she said this was the only pain I was going to feel all throughout and she was right. The pic on the left shows the needle guide. HORRORS.
The nurse came by another half hour later to infuse the chemo meds.
Strawberry Flavor? I think not. This particular med is supposed to be so bad ass, it can cause a really disturbing burning sensation on your skin if the nurse doesn't administer it properly. It also turned my pee into pink! I had to flush it out with lots of water afterwards.
There were 2 other meds infused. I need a combination of 3 of them during the first 3 cycles. The next 2 hours were pretty uneventful, except for a really short moment when the flow felt mahapdi. The nurse was still there so he was able to make the necessary adjustments. Before I knew it, I had dozed off although very lightly. It was all psychological, but I didn't feel at ease about the fact that there was something so complicated attached to me. Besides, the machine was kinda noisy.
Emote! :)))
The 2 hours went by just like that. We were out of there by around 5pm. I wouldn't call it a bad time, because I'm thankful that nothing went wrong while the treatment happened. But honestly? I felt this really nagging kind of restlessness in the first few minutes after the infusion, when my Onco had already left the room. I couldn't explain it and I still can't. I can probably attribute it (still) to first-time jitters. It was emotionally overwhelming because this really made it sooooooo real. I was okay by the time it was over but I wanted to go home stat!
When I arrived, I had a hearty dinner of Sinigang na Sugpo and Rellenong Bangus then went to bed earlier than usual at around past 10pm. I woke up shortly before 9am this morning --- wow! Thank you, Lord for uninterrupted sleep! I felt blessed upon waking up.
It's already 1pm and I'm still feeling as normal as I do on a regular day. Friends have been asking me how I'm doing and they're all surprised and happy that I'm not feeling any side effects. I pray that this goes on until my next cycle. This is something we will constantly pray for everytime I need to go back.
God continues to bless me and I'm so grateful!
ONE DOWN, FIVE TO GO!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment