Ever wondered what a day of chemotherapy was like for a cancer patient? I thought I’d bring you along today, and give you a snapshot of what cancer treatment looks like. I hope its helpful to the newly diagnosed. Obvious disclaimer: of course, every patient’s treatment is different, and each cancer treatment center is different.
6:00 AM
Alarm goes off. I’m supposed to get up and take my pills. I’m on a new type of chemo that requires me to take a pill 12 hours, 6 hours, and 1 hour before the chemo infusion starts (the first pill was taken care of last night). I hit the snooze button.
Again.
And again.
And again.
7:00 AM
Actually get out of bed and take the pill. Oops. Time to get the baby and myself ready to go.
7:45 AM
Mom shows up to take us in for treatment. She even packed me a lunch for my long day. Thanks Mom.
8:15 AM
I arrive at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Mom takes the baby with her for the day. Check in for Port Access. (Instead of having an IV put in every time I go in, I have a port that is installed under the skin near my left collarbone. I know a lot of people hate having the port, but I love it. It’s so much nicer than the IVs and for some reason, getting an IV going on me is really difficult.) After the port access is installed I go around for the rest of the day with these tubes dangling from my chest.
Break into moms lunch while I’m waiting.
9:30 AM
Blood draw for MUGA scan (Multi Gated Acquisition Scan). They take my blood, make it radioactive, and later they will return it to me, then they can track the blood as it makes its way through my heart to determine it’s efficiency. Several of the agents in my chemo are known to cause some heart damage to a small percentage of patients. This scan is scheduled periodically to determine how well my heart is handling the chemo, and whether we need to make any adjustments. This isn’t part of my normal chemo routine.
waiting . . .
waiting . . .
waiting . . .
10:05 AM
The machine that does the MUGA scan is a long narrow bed (generous term) with an arm holding a 2″x2″ tablet that looks something like a small film holder for an x-ray machine. When I lay down, the radiologist attached leads and wires to my abdomen and chest, then another tech came in and they both verified that the blood they are giving back to me, now radioactive, actually belongs to me. The the treated blood goes back in through the port. Then she covered me up with a warmed blanket, they have blanket warmers all over the place here and they are really good about making sure you don’t catch a chill. After covering me up, she help up a wide vinyl loop to stick my arms through so I could relax them and wouldn’t have to hold them in the air at my side throughout the test. Seriously, when I say a long narrow bed, I mean maybe a foot and a half wide, not enough room to rest your arms at your side. The radiologist positions the tablet just above, but not touching, my chest. Then it’s a matter of just laying still for a long time, repositioning the tablet to get another angle, repeat… you get the picture. No pain, just boring laying there and trying not to move – plus I had a bit of a cough, and it was really frustrating trying not to cough.
10:50
Stop by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription – to be honest, it’s a refill of the pills I’m supposed to take 1 hour before chemo because I forgot them at home. I’m really on a roll today. I’m blaming it on chemo brain.
11:00 AM
Take the pills and meet with my Oncologist’s nurse, Martha. I usually meet with either the nurse or the doctor before each infusion. We discuss my symptoms and any questions I might have. I confess I took my pill late this morning, she said it’s no problem at all, I just needed to get the pill in the general time frame. She also said that my blood counts are awesome (yay me!), and my heart is operating well within normal parameters. That’s what I like to hear.
11:30 AM
Check in for my chemo infusion. They give me a pager like the kind you get at restaurants while you’re waiting for a table.
11:50 AM
Pager goes off and I head back to my chemo room (Bay 39 this time) and get settled in. I follow my nurse around, so the bay I’m in depends on the section she’s working in. Joy is so awesome I’d happily sit on a speed bump in the parking lot if that’s what it took to have her do my infusions. Joy orders my meds and then we compare notes on our babies while we wait for the meds to show up (ok, not the whole time, she did check on her other patients).
12:30 PM
Start Herceptin infusion through the port.
Today’s lineup:
12:45 PM
The husband finally arrives. Yay! He tries to be here with me for most of this stuff, but he had a critical class this morning, and I really prefer that he not miss his classes.
2:20 PM
Benadryl and Zantac, pill form. Zofran pushed into the line in the port by hand. These are premeds to help prevent nausea and help prevent an allergic reaction. Now we are getting ready start the real chemo: Taxol. Another nurse came in to verify that the meds and the patient both match the Doctor’s orders. They don’t do this for every single medication, just the really big guns. The nurse also puts on a plastic apron, with full length sleeves and wrist cuffs, before handling these really harsh meds.
2:50 PM
Sent The Husband to procure treats from the Infusion Unit kitchen: specifically mac’n'cheese, and chocolate ice cream. Please no lectures on health food, it’s chemo day.
nearly 3:00 PM
The Husband returned with the ice cream and tortellini with pesto, they were out of the mac’n'cheese. Totally appropriate substitution.
play around online for several hours . . .
6:45 PM
Zoladex: this is a little pellet that is inserted into my abdomen with a needle. The lidocaine shot they give me before hand hurts more than this shot. Then the port is removed and I get a little bandage, and we head out of the building where mom and the baby have arrived to give us a ride home.
Symptoms: The first evening of chemo I usually feel great. The meds they have been giving me to combat nausea are awesome, almost no nausea at all. The biggest side effect for me has been fatigue. It’s just really hard to stay awake sometimes, or to get off the couch at any time. It sounds counter-intuitive, but exercise does help with fatigue. Generally the symptoms accumulate through the course of the week. Tuesday is more foggy than Monday: Thursday and Friday I’m much more exhausted than Wednesday. It’s interesting that there is such a long (several days) delay between getting the chemo and when the symptoms hit their peak. I’m curious to see how my symptoms will change with the Taxol. Many people I’ve met say the Taxol was easier for them to tolerate than the AC I was on before, although there were a few that had a more difficult time. I’ll report back next week with an update.
And for those of you who have been anxious to see a picture of my bald head:
If you have any questions about cancer, treatment, symptoms, side effects, or how I’m dealing with it all, please feel free to ask in the comments. I’m happy to answer questions.
And if there is anyone out there who has just been diagnosed with cancer, I hope this post will be helpful for you. Hang in there. Bear in mind that every treatment plan is different, and everyone experiences and tolerates their treatment different. I found that most of the worst case scenarios my imagination conjured up were much worse than the reality when I finally faced it. I hope the same is true for you. Best Wishes.
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You are such a brave woman. What a day! So long and tiring and full of medical stuff and angst. Keep the positivity! I’ve heard it is cancer’s natural enemy
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My best friend went through Chemo for breast cancer four years ago, so naturally I was there through the process with her. She also preferred the port to the IV. Her biggest complaint was that as soon as she started to feel better, it was time to go through another treatment. The Chemo did do heart damage and as a result she has been put on Nitro, she also has to go in for a MUGA every three months.
I really hope your Chemo doesn’t do heart damage. Glad to hear all is going well.
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Wow! Great post. Hugs Mama!
I photographed a day of daughters procedure days also
http://letskickallsbutt.blogspot.com/2010/03/maintenance-here-we-come.html
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Judy Schwartz Haley Reply:
August 10th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
your daughter is an amazing little girl. best wishes
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Good luck with your chemo!
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Thank you so much for sharing. Most of us have absolutely no idea what you are going through. My sister meets with her Oncologist tomorrow afternoon to begin her next round of chemo ( pill and IV for brain cancer) You are an amazing woman and I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers everyday. I am going to share this on my blog.
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My heart goes out to you. I really had no idea what having chemo entailed. I just have heard it is pretty bad. My sister found a lump and has a mammogram scheduled.
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Judy Schwartz Haley Reply:
August 10th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
I hope it turns out to be nothing for your sister. but if it is cancer, there is hope. I found a great deal of support at Gildas Club and the Young Survivor Coalition. And in the past few months I have met so many women that have battled cancer and then just got on with their lives. best wishes.
http://gildasclub.org/
http://www.youngsurvival.org/
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You are so wonderful for sharing this with your readers! You and your family are most definitely in my prayers.
P.S. Your head is beautiful and perfectly round!
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Thank you so much for sharing so openly and honestly with us. Your bald head is beautiful!!! I wish you continued strength as you go through these long and crazy days, and fill them with chocolate ice cream [or ANY ice cream] and loads of mac-n-cheese, whatever works for you! Many hugs and much love and strength to you and your family.
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Thanks so much for this. My best friend went through all of this not too long ago. Now I can truly understand what it was like for her. Sending glowing energy your way.
Believe,
Michelle
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my chemo days were quite different.
i had two mugas during 6 months of chemo and they were done on totally separate days.
blood draws were required to be completed the day before chemo (good thing the hospital was only 5 minutes from my house).
so my chemo days were pretty much like get to the hospital. take a second breakfast in the form of about 20 pills. wait half an hour for them to kick in. and then have about 4 hours of actual chemo. then go home.
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Thank you for the comment on my blog. And thank you for this wonderful post — my MIL just completed chemo and radiation for breast cancer, but she lives across the country in Michigan so unfortunately I could not be there physically to support her. I appreciate the enlightenment on what she might have gone through.
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Thank you for sharing this. I have a friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer but she’s not getting chemo, just a 6-week course of radiation (due to her genetic markers or something).
I wish you well!
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Wow, great post! I have never read or seen what this can be like, so your description is very eye opening. What an ordeal! Though your attitude seems fabulous. So glad your mom and husband are able to be there for you.
And you are totally rocking the bald head, too!!!
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I commend you for your strength and bravery. I finished chemo in January and radiation in March of this year. With the support of my family and God I made it through. I also prefer the port than an IV. I will pray for your continuous strength and bravery. It is a battle but I have faith that you will make it through. May God continue to be with you and your family.
God Bless
Margaret Roberson
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Thanks for sharing this. You are so brave. Good luck with everything, and above all – stay positive! I am praying for you!
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wow thank you for sharing. my mother just had a mastectomy and is about to start chemo and to be honest i never had any idea what it was like.
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Judy Schwartz Haley Reply:
August 17th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
best wishes to your mom. I really meant it when I said that the reality of getting through was no where near as bad as the worst case scenarios my brain conjured up. You will be amazed at how much normal she’ll be able to pack into every day. I do suggest finding a support group – Gilda’s Club has been amazing for me, they have clubhouses throughout the country. The Lance Armstrong Foundation also has links to a number of support resources if there is no Gilda’s Club nearby.
gildasclub.org
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I loved this post. I don’t love the reasons (cancer can suck it) behind it, but I loved that it’s open and honest and beautifully written.
Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
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I think your bald head is beautiful!! And you keep on keeping on. You are a source of bravery and realness to many women out there, with or without cancer. Cancer has a face and you are perservering through it. I am praying for your battle. Have a blessed day.
Shelley
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Thank you so much for sharing your story. For many women just knowing what treatment is like makes it a little less daunting. You are amazing. I hope you know that xxxx
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Judy Schwartz Haley Reply:
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Thank you so much. I really hope it helps someone.
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Hi!
I am the Manager of the Medical Nutrition Services at SCCA. The Mac n’ cheese is whole grain and organic! As a registered dietitian AND a breast cancer survivor, I did not want patients to have to choose between healthy food and comfort food…so i am trying very hard to provide food that is both!
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great post, thank you so much for sharing your experience and for directing me to the post…I start tomorrow..and am quite nervous and anxious, this helped a LOT to see your pictures and hear your story…
))
thank you
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Judy Schwartz Haley Reply:
March 15th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Hugs to you Tammy! You can get through this. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family for help. Odds are, they’re stressed out too, and doing something like helping you out in some manner can help relieve their stress too. My personal twitter account is @coffeejitters, feel free to tweet or DM me any time if you have questions or want to talk. You may find a few other posts on my site that are helpful, or even fun – here’s one where I brought my 2 year old along for my herceptin infusion:) My Chemo Buddy
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