Kicking off Chemo

Day 1 (1/25/16) - The much anticipated day finally arrived. I'm sure I'm not the only one among my cancer friends here at HCI that felt nervous on their first day. I didn't know exactly what to expect. We arrived early in order to follow up with the MRI results from last week... I mentioned in the previous post that I never heard from my doctor last week about the MRI I got on my brain, which made me assume everything was dandy, but it gave us enormous peace of mind to confirm with my nurse that the results were great! We got the report and everything is perfectly normal up there (Chels begs to differ)...Phew. Immediately after this we checked in to the infusion center and waited in the lobby. Here is where I got my wrist ban...my wrist ban contains a bar code and I quickly learned this is the method used to add medical bills to our tab. Throughout the day, every time my nurse gave me hydration fluids, anti-nausea medication, or chemo drugs through my I.V. she would scan my wrist ban. It's a very daunting sound... Luckily we have good insurance!  

Waiting in the lobby of the infusion center 

The nurses brought me in to the infusion center. It was full of many people of varying ages, shapes, sizes, etc. Including a couple young men like myself. I didn't talk to them yet but I'm sure I will see them again and my guess is they have testicular cancer also. My nurse got my weight and height, then introduced us to my "pod". The pod is composed of a cozy reclining chair and my own TV. The worst part of the day (which wasn't bad) happened when I sat down to get the IV inserted. Prior to getting the IV though, I guess I wasn't hiding my nervousness very well cause the nurses could see it on my face. The nervousness was also exposed when they took my vitals and my heart rate was high. So they encouraged me to take a tiny pill that calms nerves. This little guy had a punch! Within minutes I was relaxed and my heart rate down to a normal range, subsequently I got the IV.

Sitting at the pod, about to get an IV in my left arm 

My pod (photo taken in the evening before we left) 

One thing to note is the view Chels and I had. It's a breathtaking sight overlooking Salt Lake City and seeing the mountains on the other side. We also had a bonus view of the helicopter landing pads on top of the University Medical Center which is only about 100 yards away. We saw multiple take-offs and landings throughout the day, awesome. 

 Nice view of the helicopter pads...and the mountain scenery too I guess

Here is me and my new shadow, the IV cart. We are one during treatment. You can see the resemblance, its tall and skinny. I had to pee constantly throughout the day, so I quickly learned how to accept him.

 Me and my new shadow

All in all I feel really good today. From what I hear though the first couple of days aren't bad...Later this week I will probably be feeling it. We left the HCI at around 6:00 pm and got home at 6:30. It was so good to see Avi-Bird and Chloe-Bee! We didn't have much time with them before it was bedtime, but it was good to see their smiling faces. I did start to feel a little tired and weak around bedtime, but not sick.