A Day in the Life of a Chemo Patient

My second round of chemo went better than my first

Today was my second round of chemo in this cycle. I hope this cycle is my last one! Here is how the day went.

A good friend came over at 7:45 in the morning to take me. The appointment was at 8:30 but she got here early to do the prep and also to help me get into the car and get my to-go bag and my Rollater inside. She and another good friend and my fiance take turns doing this so no one is overwhelmed.

The prep is because I have a port — so my friend put lidocaine on it and covered with clear plastic. Then she grabbed my bag, which includes a lovely warm blanket that a neighbor gave me last Christmas. It gets chilly in the chemo area, and though they provide warm blankets and pillows, I also bring my own and double up. I also make sure to have warm socks!

Because it’s been raining heavily in the Austin area, the roads were wet and we had to go slowly. So it’s a good thing we left early! It normally takes about 15–20 minutes but this morning it took 30.

Once we got there, my friend dropped me off at the door while she parked the car. She gave me my Rollater, but carried my to-go bag and later, she also carried the hot tea I was sipping. She joked that she was my sherpa. I had offered to put the tea on my Rollater, but she pointed out that it was an unstable platform and insisted on carrying it for me.

The thing is — I become very weak when I am going through chemo. The first day — I can manage well prior to the chemo but after that…. it becomes progressively harder for me to function. I cook meals early in the cycle because I get progressively weaker as it goes on.

It was lively today — everyone wanted to chat.

The male nurse accessed my port and took blood samples. He and I talked about relationships we’d had. It was light hearted and joking. The blood samples determined if I could do chemo. Low white blood counts, platelet counts, etc., meant no chemo.

Then my friend and I went to a waiting area and chatted until a technician called us. She measured blood pressure, oxygen saturation, etc.

She took us to an office to go over my prescriptions. After she left, a female nurse came in to go over blood results and answer any questions I might have about my treatment.

I mentioned how horrible my last round of chemo had gone, so she prescribed a medication that should help me this time around. She also told me that while my blood markers were in good shape, so I could do the chemo, my magnesium levels were low. She wanted me to take supplements. Both would be dispensed by the on-site pharmacy.

It’s amazing how many pills I take these days, thanks to the cancer!

Towards the end of the visit, we chatted for a bit — about cooking of all things. The nurse is from South India while my family originated in North India. My friend is of Scottish descent — she’s done a family tree. However, she does not cook haggis!

She is, however, a good cook, and her 23 year old daughter is too, while her son is not. The nurse said in her family it’s the other way around — it’s her son who is a good cook. He makes everything, not just Indian food.

Then it was time for me to get my chemo. They added a saline drip because I had been dehydrated the last time. Thanks to the Benadryl they gave via my port before they started the chemo drip, I was quite loopy and sleepy for much of it, but I was also pain free.

When I was somewhat conscious, my friend brought me more tea and we talked about trips we’d like to take. She is going to Italy and my chemo nurse heard that and mentioned she’d been to Italy, and gave my friend some tips.

The nurse then told us she was going to Greece for her honeymoon. I’ve been to Greece, so I told her what I had loved and what was not so great. Then I went drifted off to sleep and my friend picked up my meds.

She provided support as we left, since my balance was not good, and she put my go-bag back together and went and got the car to minimize how far I’d have to walk.

After driving me home, she made sure I was safely seated before she left. My mom got me water.

I felt very pampered, and I sorta needed to be as I was still quite unbalanced and could have fallen and hurt myself if I’d tried to walk on my own.

However, after half an hour and some more water, I was fine to walk around. The rest of the day went well. I watched a good movie with Mom and made sure to take my medication before bed.

I think this round of chemo will be much easier then the last.

I shared this for people who are dreading cancer. The treatments have come a long way and there are meds to help with many of the side-effects. However, it’s important to communicate so that you can get the help you need.

Thanks to my palliative care nurse, I made sure I got extra IV fluids and thanks to my oncology nurse I received meds to make my nausea better. However, I had to tell them my symptoms before they could find solutions.

Not all of these solutions require allopathic medication. When I was having mouth issues at a previous round of radiation, I was told to gargle with baking soda. It worked!

My palliative care nurse is particularly good at giving me advice to deal with problems. I normally only see her once a month, but I have a number I can call anytime I need to, and she generally calls me back within a couple of hours. She’ll offer suggestions and even prescribe meds if I need them. Because I’m a cancer patient, her visits and that of my physical therapist are covered.

Unfortunately, drugs, including chemo drugs, are not — they are partially covered by insurance, but the rest I am expected to pay for. Cancer is an incredibly expensive disease!

Hope you liked this article.

I am fighting stage IV cancer. If you can help with medical bills, I would really appreciate it. Or if you enjoy my writing and would like to buy me a cup of coffee, that’s great too. Maybe someday I can return the favor.