Day 251 - Round One of AVD

Okay, so 3 hours sleep is probably not the smartest idea I've had in a really long time, but I just could not convince myself to turn out the light & go to bed. When I did eventually turn out the light, I just laid there. And tossed & turned. Needless to say the alarm went off much sooner than I would have liked!


I was thinking to myself of the diazepam the Fertility Clinic gave me to take the night before my surgery. I think it would have been a good idea for me to take the same thing last night! I did make the suggestion to Dr. Daly today, of which he gave me Ativan before I started the chemo. 


We left for the city at 0710, dogs & all. I had packed my bag the night before. Books, laptop, music, iPods, journals, camera, etc, etc. Totally not hungry, I had 1/2 a glass of juice & away we went. I figured I would have time to grab a bite before treatment. 


I am quite unfamiliar with Peter Lougheed, so I asked directions to the lab. I knew the blood work had to be done before the Dr.'s appointment, so I needed to hustle up! It was already 0810. Of course I got lost on my way to the lab. When I did show up, this short little fellow asks for my requisition. I had no clue where it was! Didn't they have it? No. I walked back to the entrance & took another turn. The requisition was at another desk. Then the gal tells me Dr. Daly isn't in until noon. What? Wait! No, there I was on the list. 0900. Phew! 


Requisition in hand I walk back to the lab. There was a lady at the desk this time. I handed her my papers as I should & mentioned that I had an appointment at 0900. She replied in an unfriendly tone, 'Yeah, well, there are others ahead of you. Just take a seat.' Okay.


They called one person every 10 minutes! ALL those people in the waiting room were family members of others already having tests done! A fellow named Jared came in & started chatting to me about his platelets & spleen & how his spleen is producing antibodies that throw out all his platelets. He sees Dr. Lategan & had Hodgkin's when he was 10! Crazy! 


When I was finally called, Lionel, the same man as before, called me into the back & took my blood. He was good! I hardly felt a pinch! My body is getting sensitive to the needles as of late, & they've only just begun! 


Blood work done, I headed back to Dr. Daly's waiting area. Mom came in from the car & shortly thereafter we were called into the room. A lovely nurse named Grete talked to me about a few things, took my height & weight (144.5 & 168) & then gave me a bunch of little booklets to read on all things Hodgkin's & Chemo. Even a copy of 'Managing Chemotherapy for Dummies'!!! Ha ha!


Dr. Daly came in & we chatted about a few things. He checked my hands, neck & my breathing. We talked about my travel restrictions & his travel plans! :o( He gets to go to Quebec, I'm staying put. Fair enough. He walked me to the treatment room & left me with the nurses.


Grete had told us that we would usually have about 1.5 hrs wait until the drugs were sent down from the Pharmacy, giving us time to get a bite to eat, have a tea, walk the dogs, etc, etc. But when I entered the room, they sat me down right away & got started! Oh dear! No food in my belly! Hope it all goes well!


Vivian, an adorable Nurse originally from Hong Kong, tells me I needed to heat up my arms. I said, 'Sure, do you have a heat pack?' (At Castillo's we were given microwaved IV bags of water to keep our injection sites warm) Vivian looked at me funny & said no. Instead, she began filling a sink with warm water. There I stood, hunched over this sink with water from my palms to triceps. I finish soaking them & try my best not to drip water all over the floor while Vivian wraps them in towels.


I sat down & she finds a juicy vein. She didn't like the first one on my inner forearm, so she pulled it out & used the one in my elbow pit (Sorry, haven't learned the technical term for that one yet!). It was good, so we were ready to rock. However, they gave me saline. Then the anti-emetic. Then more saline. As I was trying to rehydrate myself, drinking water & all that saline, I was in the toilet 3x by this point! I had to take off all the blankets & pillows & fold the leg lift under on the chair, which felt like an auto-eject seat every time it came down! Then I had to unplug the IV trolley, which one of the other nurses named 'my dancing partner' & away I'd go to the loo.


When I returned, it was time. I had two bags of Vinblastine, followed by a flush of the line after each. Then it was Doxorubicin or Adryiamycin next. It is a clear red drug. I thought it would hurt going in, but it didn't. Next up was the big bag of Dacarbazine. It was given simultaneously with saline, again, not to irritate the vein. Again, potty time. 


Mom had left prior to the anti-emetic & she finally came back! I hadn't brought my bag with all my books, videos, etc. in it, so I was bored out of my tree! I watched the nursing staff interact & flutter about, discovered a bunch of wrong dates in my Peruvian day planner (!) & chatted with a few of the gals beside me. When Mom returned I was just getting my chemo. She brought me a Jugo Juice smoothie & sandwich, as well as a nice card & 2 books I'd mentioned earlier this morning! What a great Mom! 


We were able to visit with one of the nurses, Deana, while Vivian administered the chemo drugs. It was a nice distraction so I didn't have to think about what was happening.


Soon enough, I was finished! No complications & no discomfort! Yay! Round 1 is done! We headed to the Pharmacy to pick up the meds & there was a little hold up in clarifying that the Alberta Cancer Foundation was going to help out, but 1/2 an hour later, we were good to go! By this point I was pretty tired. I couldn't wait to get home & sleep!


Which is precisely what I did. I set the alarm for 2200, woke up, took a pill, ate some food, checked out the new replacement phones & typed this. I'm now off to bed again, alarm set for 0400 to take the next pill... 


I survived the first round! Yay! It was a breeze! I've been warmed there are rough days coming - Dr. Daly says tomorrow, the one nurse says days 5-7. We'll see! All those prayers, positive thoughts, white light & good energy thrown my way really made a world of difference! I'm so grateful for the wonderful family & friends I have supporting me! 


Sleep well! xxxxx
Maria & Valentina

Vivian reviews the drugs & their side effects with me.

Getting sleepy!

Dacarbazine & Saline

Mom lights up the room

The hi-tech hot pack machine!

Okay, round 1 done & dusted.