Piece of CAKE!

I'd only been appointed for a week .. but what a long week it was. I read every paper, brochure & book given me by my doctor. I researched my nausea and chemo meds online. I want to be informed, make wise choices, be able to discuss my care with some intelligience. And, to be honest, I probably went overboard. I vacillated back and forth between being grateful for the poison that would (hopefully) kill Herschel and his minions, and being fearful of the poison that would (hopefully) kill Herschel and his minions.

Before

I was a little apprehensive here .. Would I be sick? Have a reaction? Would my hair suddenly stand up on end, and jump out of my head like a dandelion in late summer when you blow on it? Would Dave fall asleep in the recliner and snore so loudly we were asked to leave? I'm happy to report that NONE of that happened. (The dandelion thing might have been kinda cool, though.)

Herschel's Toxic Cocktail

We watched movies, snacked on jalapeno crackers, unhooked me for a potty break (!!!!! We're so smart!) and I actually napped. Apart from some initial burning at my IV site .. there was no reaction, no pain, no nausea, NADA!

Dave's Zuni Bear

I took some friends with me. My Zuni friends will recognize this as a Saul Yuselew bear. Saul was a tiny little man who claimed to only speak Zuni (when approached by "melikas") and who carved these medicine bears well into his eighties. He died a couple of years ago. This is Dave's fetish that he carries in his backpack. I had given a similar one to my Dad before he died and I now have that one. The Zuni's believe that bears have knowledge of healing roots & berries and white bear are especially powerful. I think White Bear Of The East was pretty helpful today. (I wonder what Saul would think about a melika girl taking his medicine bear to chemo. I think he would have liked it.)

And I took my best friend, head cheerleader, navigator, cookie bearer, juice opener, IV pushing, potty helper too. What would I do without him? I'm so sorry he's having to bear this cross with me .. but I am awfully glad he's here. I couldn't ask for a better source of support and encouragement.

This is my blood pressure. See .. I'm not nervous. That is digital proof that I AM A WARRIOR. Herschel's toxic cocktail doesn't SCARE ME!

Happy it's over
(Just the first of lots of tacky pictures to come, I'm sure. But they can't all be pretty .. right? And I'm not censoring the photos from here on out .. )

And, now we're done. My nurse told me to take a nausea pill just to be on the safe side. A saline flush, removal of my IV and we're outtah here. I felt so good I was hungry for lunch. Fortunately, there's a Luby's on Fannin. Though I napped a little on the way home from the Compazine, otherwise I was fine. Chemo session one, piece of cake. Eleven more in this round to go. Here's hopin'!