Infusion Number Two:
DONE and DONE! And much easier
than the first, I might add.
Appointment time wasn’t until 1:00 PM, so that left a little
time beforehand to get some errands done – and have a little bite to eat in the car
on the way.
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I know, I know – not the healthiest snack in the world,
but damn it tastes good!
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After the first infusion, as I was making my way to the 5th story of the
parking structure, LaLa let us in on a little-known
parking secret: part of the ground level
is reserved for cancer patients.
Now, if there had only been just a few empty spaces, I definitely wouldn’t have parked there – those spaces need to be kept open for
patients who are worse off than this Lymphopixie. But the area was mostly empty, so I parked and schlepped my stuff into the infusion center.
I checked in and had a seat in the waiting area, but this
time only had to wait about 10 minutes before being called back to a chair.
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Peace. Or infusion number two. Take your pick!
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Yeh, I wouldn’t be smiling long. Poor Arlene the awesome nurse tried to get the IV
started in a vein on the underside of my left arm, but it just wouldn’t
take. After jabbing the needle around in
my vein for a while, she decided to take it out and try again somewhere else.
Right after this photo was taken, my brain kicked in and said, “You DO realize that you have a needle swimming around under your
skin, trying to find a good spot in your vein, don’t you? Doesn’t it feel ooooogy and icky?”
Blech.
Um, yeh it
DOES feel ooooogy and icky and now so do I.
I started to feel really faint, but had the presence of mind to recline
the chair and get my feet up. Never
passed out, thank Buddha, and Arlene was able to get the IV in. After that little episode, I felt fine. There’s just something about a needle
wiggling under my skin trying to land in a good spot in a vein that just icks
me out…..
Onward!
A few hives sprung up on the underside of my arm at the site
of the first IV attempt, but never spread or got out of hand. Not sure why they appeared, as there was
nothing in the IV at the time.
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Hives of unknown origin. Go figure.
|
I again took the two Tylenol for the anticipated fever, and
Arlene started the pre-med Benadryl.
I decided I wanted to make my IV bags a little more spiffy
this time, so I brought some décor…..
After all, this IS my new favorite cocktail!
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| Front-row infusion chairs have the best views! |
This time, I was started off at 100-whatevers, with the goal
of getting to 400 in increments of 100. Last
time, it was incrementally by 50, I had that bad reaction, and I only was able
to make it up to 300-whatevers. I was
more than slightly concerned that this increased drip rate would spur another
reaction! But Arlene said, “Nope, this
time you won’t have any reaction at all.”
She said it with such confidence that I said, “Alrighty then! No reaction today!”
The power of positive thinking and putting good energy and
thoughts out to the Universe is amazing!
I kept having NO REACTION! RIGHT
ON!
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Like last time, blood pressure and temperature taken
every 30 minutes. This time, my BP stayed consistently right
where it should be, and my temp only rose by two degrees. |
I had myself plugged into my tunes, and dozed off and on to
wonderfully soothing meditation music.
When I wasn’t dozing, I was reading. At the time I was packing my infusion day bag for this session,
I didn’t realize the irony of one of the books I included:
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Wow – this could be the title of my exploits in Cancerland,
since this pesky cancer thing was discovered completely by accident! |
I also wanted to cozy up for a fix of glamp porn…..
…..and to literarily visit with some of my thousands of new-found
Sisters in Sisters on the Fly. I joined
this phenomenal group of women when I decided to buy a vintage trailer to
glamp-up - for THOSE adventures, see my other blog, www.1964thunderbolt.blogspot.com
There’s a fabulous spiritual thread than runs through the Sisters, a
hankering for adventure and seeing new places and trying new things. Their stories are empowering, embolding, and
inspiring, and make me confidant that I can do ANYTHING, including making over
a 1964 teeny tiny trailer AND kicking ass on this cancer thing! I’m proud to be Sister #3668!
After only about three hours, my Rituxan bag was e-m-p-t-y
! Because the drip rate is started off
low and slow, it takes a long time for the bag to start to go down; once the drip rate
is steadily increased, though, it seems like it empties pretty fast. Yay for that!
The IV was removed, one final BP and temp taken, and then I was outta there!
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| Happiness is being in the car after a non-reaction infusion! |
Starving again, I made a beeline for Cheesecake Factory.
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| I’m a sucker for Cheesecake Factory’s Chicken Madeira. |
I boxed up half of my dinner so I could save room for
dessert – DUH!
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| A little (actually, big) slice of heaven! |
Overall, this second infusion went almost textbook: they say that if there’s going to be any
reaction, it’ll be with the first one, and that subsequent infusions will take
less time. Correct on both counts!
Now go to work, Rituxan, and kill off those annoying cancer
cells!
