Triumphant 80 % first day

So, my first day of my first chemo is done.  I found out today (!) that each infusion session is actually two days.  I go back tomorrow for more!  I will blog all about it (first impressions, surprises, how I feel, etc.), but first I'm giving a basic lesson.  

So the chemo drugs work this way, which is fascinating.  This car analogy really helped. 

Imagine you are in a car (your body), and your accelerator gets stuck (the cancer cells).  The car speeds up and up (the cancer cells grow and grow because that’s what cancer cells do – they rapidly divide and do not die (cell apoptosis)).  Eventually, inevitably if there is no intervention (chemotherapy) on the accelerator (cancer cells) in the car (body), it will crash (death). 

The chemo drugs attack rapidly dividing cells in the body.  All of them, cancer or not cancer.  The cells in your body that naturally rapidly divide are those cells in the mouth, the stomach and bowel, blood cells and the hair follicles, hence the nasty side effects.  Hair loss, nausea, diarrhea, mouth sores, low blood counts.  And you all have cancer often.  Your own immune system kills those cells.  And then if they don’t, you have cancer.  There, cancer/chemo explained in 1-minute.  

More later tonight or tomorrow.  I feel good, but tired, and my stomach is a wee bit off.  :)