Monday, July 12, 2010

Cycle 2, Day 1

Today was a long day at the infusion center at Carilion. My nurse Janice checked me in and changed my dressing that covers my PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) first. The PICC had a white cap that needs to be removed to draw blood work for my labs. Otherwise, I will get an inaccurate result. The white cap was unable to be removed 2 weeks ago because of all the sticky goo from the dressing. If it is unable to be removed, it could be a cleanliness issue. However, Janice got it off!! This small detail is a huge answer to prayer. If she couldn't have removed it then they would have to draw blood work from somewhere else with a sharp needle the 'ol fashion way'. Plus, we might have needed to looking into other options for cleanliness. But, now we don't have to consider any of those options. YEAH!!

Then we went to the infusion center. There is more privacy here with each patient getting a divided room with a draw curtain door. Each 'room' has a great window view, private TV, infusion chair that opens flat (for napping), and chairs for any accompanying family or friends. Then started the waiting. They waited to get all the chemo patients checked in before starting any of the infusions, including my premedications and fluids. I also received my Bleomycin today with the other 2 chemo meds. So, it was a very long day. We were there at 8am and left at 4pm.

I'm feeling ok. I can taste the metallic taste coming back already. Yuck! I can feel the reflux being a little worse than yesterday. My biggest complaint is the fatigue. I slept for several hours during the infusion and I'm still exhausted now. All I want to do is go to bed. It'll be an early night tonight.

Otherwise, I've ordered some nice T-shirts. In case anyone is curious, ovarian cancer is represented by the color Teal. Similar to how breast cancer is the famous pink ribbon. So, I encourage all to wear teal in honor of ovarian cancer support.

3 comments:

  1. There are some quilting fabrics in teal that are selling to raise awareness and money for ovarian cancer research. Check this one out and then click "Related Products" to see the rest:

    http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=98420&sid=31U9Hz2TO0HFDWn-13110590258.d2

    I saw some cute tshirts online too, but hadn't seen the pin. I'd love to see where you're getting them if you want to send a link.

    Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday! Hang in there. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got the wear teal t-shirts from www.cafepress.com. I also purchased the pin from them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the link to the teal fabrics. I will definitely pick at least one pattern for my quilt. They are all so pretty.

    ReplyDelete