The Diary of CRB: That Girl is POISOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON...

Yesterday was my very first day of chemotherapy. I was tossing and turning all night, just couldn't seem to get my mind to relax. I woke up super early and had to report to the hospital at 7am for labs...didn't have any time for breakfast before leaving home. So, I stopped by the vampires, allowed them to draw my blood and immediately went to the hospital cafeteria for breakfast at chick-fil-a :-) My next appointment, at 8am, was with a new oncologist which Dr. lee referred me too, since she was now working at the Duke Raleigh location. My new oncologist was very nice and made me feel completely comfortable in her care. I was provided with more teaching about the side effects of chemo and I was given a schedule for the next month. My last appointment and the most important one of the day was for my chemotherapy treatment.

I was as ready as I possibly could be, mentally and physically. I had my hair straightened this weekend, seeing as how it my be one of the last times I will get to enjoy it. I had eaten breakfast, prayed with my mother, and spoken to plenty of people who provided me with such encouraging words. My nurse was super sweet and just briefly went over what I was to expect for the day. I was to be there for the next 4-5 hours for treatment. This included the time for administering maintenance IV fluids, premeditation for nausea as well as my chemo drugs. The first couple hours I was just fine. Had a few visitors and my mom provided me with plenty of corny jokes. Then "IT WAS TIME!!" My nurse came to start my first chemo drug, Bleomycin. This one only took 10 min to be injected and honestly I didn't feel a thing. Etoposide was the next drug of choice, which ran over about an hour. After a while, to entertain myself I began to sing, Poison by Bell Biv Devoe. My mom asked, "girl what are you singing and dancing to?" I answered by singing louder of course, "That girl is POISOOOOOOOOOOON..." My mom began laughing, not at my singing of course, but she laughed and asked why I was singing that particular song. I explained to her that I felt as if these chemotherapy drugs are like a poison, "I got poison running through my veins to help kill this stupid cancer cells," I continued to explain.

As you can see I tried my best to make this experience as enjoyable as I could by singing and joking. My only complaint was that I was starving and sleepy by the end of the day. My first day was about 9 hours total, including my morning appointments. Afterwards, my mom and I grabbed some dinner and laughed some more. I have to go for treatment everyday this week, so let's see how I'm feeling by the end of the week : /

Side note: In my next post I will try and go into detail about the type of chemo regimen I'm on. If you have any questions you would like for me to expound on please comment below or you can email me at crbfightscancer@gmail.com. If you would like to support by donating through my rally, please go to https://rally.org/crystalbailey.