First day Chemo update

Oddly enough, I have insomnia (it’s 3:33 am), so I’m blogging my first day impressions.

Arrived at 8:45 am – late because of Portland traffic!!!  (which is rivaling LA’s now, btw). 

Had the ubiquitous blood draw, then met with my really awesome, really chill Dr. Robert Lufkin.  He is laid back, knowledgeable, compassionate and willing to answer all my questions.  Compass Oncology has an online patient portal and I have my own MyCare account, so they have been getting bombarded with questions/concerns, for which they have provided answers, reassurances and patience. 

Then back to the infusion suite. It’s a busy, lively place.  My infusions were to take 6-7 hours, and the norm is 1-3 hours.  Apparently my drug cocktail gets infused slowly, as they want to monitor reaction and my cell die-off, which can overwhelm the kidneys.  So, when I started the infusion at around 10:00 am, There were 7 people getting infusions  - my nearest neighbor was getting arsenic for leukemia! 

I also found out that my infusions are each 2 days, I guess in the spirit of the slow delivery. Thursday, I first received what they call the pre-meds, which are for anti-nausea and anti-inflammation. These were each in their own bag, given one by one (dexamethasone, diphenhydramine hcl and aloxi).

Then I received the first bag of bendamustine.  The second bag is given 24 hours later, and mercifully I get to go home in between.  Bag 2 tomorrow.  

I'll end this (as now, I am actually getting sleepy) that overall it was so much better than I thought.  I feel ok, a little weird (some minor nausea and this stupid insomnia).  I had been warned that one of the steroids (pre-meds) was going to make me feel like Superwoman, then I'd crash.  So I'm kind of waiting for the crash.  I'll also tell you my surprises.