Going to your first chemotherapy is a very scary day. When you walk in you see other patients who are further along in their treatments than you, and you cannot help but feel scared of the reality you see in their eyes. Before you got the cancer diagnosis did you see a cancer patient and automatically feel bad for them? Now the realization that you are now the one that people will feel bad for makes a sick feeling in your stomach.
The patients in the chemo room look at you and smile, or do the head nod but you also see in their eyes the look that you used to give to cancer patients. I don’t know how explain it I almost felt like a chicken walking to the chopping block.
The infusion room had little dividers between patients, the one I went to had a recliner and a chair for a guest, a TV and dvd player. You will be in the room for a while so bring a book, some movies and some snacks. Just try to be considerate of the others and don’t bring any food that has a strong smell as the chemo makes people nauseous and strong smells make it worse.
All the nurses in the chemo infusion room are so wonderful, they all are caring and compassionate and so very patient. They all know how scary it is and my infusion nurse was wonderful, she was very patient, explained everything she was doing and how it would make me feel.
When the nurse starts she has to access your port which is located under the skin about 2 inches below your collar bone. This port was just put in a short time ago and it is still sensitive. I will tell you that I am a BIG BABY, I hate needles, I hate pain and this was going to be both. The needle they use to access the port is not like the ones they use to give the flu shot; it looked more like a #2 pencil. It has to be a thicker needle because it is going through the plastic on the port. The nurse does have to push pretty hard to access the port. There is a cream you can ask for to put on an hour before your infusion and it numbs it, you still feel the pushing but the needle is not so bad with the cream. I did not know about the cream during my first dose, as soon as I did I was sure to use it each and every time.
When the port is accessed the nurse will flush with saline, and then the chemo will be attached. The nurse will explain what it is, what the side effects are. For my treatment plan I had two the first was called “red devil” I am not sure what it was really called but that is what the nurse called it. She warned me that my tears and (not to be icky) urine would turn red and not to worry. It looked like I was crying blood, thank God she warned me or I would have been very scared.
The infusion takes about 4 hours to complete, the push it very slowly to make sure you don’t have a reaction. They also can give you some nausea medicine and anti-itch medicine if the chemo affects you in that way. When it is completed she will flush the port again with saline and then heparin to keep the port open.
One hint I have for you it would be to bring lifesavers with you. When they push the saline and heparin I always got a weird taste in my mouth and the lifesavers helped.