4/30/14. The post where we learn about chemotherapy.

4/30/14: had a tough time sleeping last night.  My foot was pretty upset when I went to bed, so I applied some more cream.  It took some time to kick in, but it finally calmed things down enough for me to fall asleep, at least for a little while.  It was just one of those nights, though.  I may not have slept much, but I did solve most of the world's problems.  

This morning we packed up the car and headed out for Mom's first chemotherapy visit.  Between the three of us, it looked like we were going on a three-day camping trip rather than a six-hour doctor visit. (I'm sure this surprises none of you at this point.)  First blood work, then a visit with the doctor, then down the hall to the infusion center to begin the chemo.  

Today was a learning experience for all of us. We learned about the regimen, which consists of several different drugs infused into a port that was inserted under her clavicle last week.  At the end of the session, a pump is attached to the port for the final drug, which is infused over a two-day period.  We also learned a lot about the potential side effects of the different drugs and the order and timing of the infusions.  After all the learning, we finally got to the doing.

All went well, at least as well as chemo can go.  We got the patient home and she declared she would like some guacamole, which we took as a good sign.  She has had a few minor side effects, but nothing unmanageable.  We go back to the doctor tomorrow for a test to be sure the pump is working correctly.  Hoping tomorrow goes as well as today did.