12.5% Complete!

That's the way I am looking at it anyway; since I have approximately 8 Chemo treatments and I've put one down, I'm 12.5% done...and feeling great. Yesterday afternoon was pretty rough, very tired and nauseous, however I woke up today and felt great. I'm at work for the majority of the day, though I do have to leave to get a shot of NeuLasta this afternoon, which will help keep my white blood cell count elevated throughout treatment and allow me to continue with the Chemo without any breaks.

So, what was it like?

Well, I got there at 9am, walked through some registration procedures and was then started on some IV fluids (the picture at top is a generic Chemo room, looks pretty much like the one I was in). The drug regimen I am on is ABVD, and is a four drug mix; the first three all go in fairly quickly, through a large IV tube, while #4, the "D" is a long drip process which takes the majority of the time, about 3 of the 4 hours I was there.

While there I was very comfortable, read some magazines (brought my own, I've given up on updated materials in facilities), did some work, and watched a movie on my laptop - it was actually a pretty relaxing procedure and few hours.

Kristina picked me up (I may be able to drive myself in the future, but the first time they recommend having a ride available) and we stopped by the local CVS to get some nausea meds. Went home from there and I relaxed for the afternoon; I felt pretty lousy yesterday, but as I said earlier I feel great today and am anxious to get to the next treatment. Was also boosted by the good news we received on my dad, who is improving some and will not have to join me at chemo...he will be going to the same place to get his Erbitux, but they are very positive about where he is right now. It would have been a bit much for all of us if he had to undergo Chemo again, right when I was.

I continue to be thankful for the wonderful support system I have around me; employees, family, friends, and most importantly my live-in-dietitian-fiance, Kristina...she does a great job taking care of me and we're trying our best to have a lot of laughs and live fairly normal lives throughout this entire process.

Keep you posted on other things as they happen and thanks again for stopping by; feel free to leave questions in the comments section if you have any and I'll do my best to answer them - a big reason I wanted to publish all of this stuff in such an open forum is to help with the education around this disease. Maybe someday someone like me will come along who is newly diagnosed and find this page of some value to them and their own struggle with the unknowns that accompany this diagnosis?

Enjoy your weekends!