What Chemo Treatment Really Looks Like (Part 1)
A quick behind the scenes look at my cancer treatment
So I often share about #chemoday but the reality is it’s actually chemo days. Let me explain. I go in on Wednesday’s and go through the typical routine. Labs first where the also access my port. (Sometimes we do labs the day before).
A port is short for port catheter. I’ve had mine since 2021. It’s a device surgically implanted in your chest to give access to the larger veins in close to the heart because chemo is hard on the smaller veins in the arms.
Next step is meeting with my doctor or my nurse practitioner. We check labs make sure everything is good for treatment. We catch up. Laugh a little then it’s of to infusion. There I get an assortment of pre-meds. Sometimes I get other infusions such as iron (if my iron is low) After pre meds and other infusions which can take about an hour. Then we start the chemo. It is always a 90 minute infusion. After it finishes we do a flush. Then the nurse attaches the Cadd pump. The pump is a medical device that continues to pump chemo that is attached from new bag which is connected to the pump. My run time is always 46 yours from the time the pump is connected. As you can see in the picture I still have 29 hours left which means it will end sometime tomorrow afternoon just before 2:00 p.m.
So what does my remaining time on chemo look like. First, I can’t drive while being medicated so I’m usually just at home. I have to carry the bag everywhere which I usually use the shoulder strap to do. Showering is possible but difficult so I usually just sponge down. Other than that I can do just about anything I need to, just very carefully so I don’t snag any tubing on a door or drawer. I normally don’t feel anything, but the key is staying super hydrated which is not a huge problem for me.
So if you’re new to following me you might be asking how long is my treatment. For me it’s for life. My cancer can’t be cured at this time. Not with surgery at least. There are some promising drugs in the pipeline though some remain hopefully awaiting their release in the near future.
So now you have a little more insight to what my last 4 years of cancer warrioring (is that even a word😂🤦🏾♂️) looks like.
#cancerwarrior #unshakable
