Chemo - Take 2

Friday the 14th of December, 2007.

A good day.

We get to the hospital shortly before 8am. I drop Leslie off and take Jared on to DayCare. It's a good day for a kid to be in daycare. Jared is only 3 but he knows that Mommy has an owie. He knows that he can't play rough with Mommy but that's ok cuz Daddy takes care of that stuff anyway. Mommy spent a big part of the night last night showing Jared what is going on with the gigantic 3 inch needle inserted into her chest with the 18 inch long tube attached to it. Ok, he didn't really see the needle but he saw the gigantic clear band-aid that held it in place and thought that was really cool. As a boy of 3 years will have definite ideas on how things should be done it was Jared's idea to give Mommy some better band-aids. Curious George band-aids to be exact. There are photos but no test here. By the way, check out the new hair-do. Leslie's cut it short so when it falls out it won't be quite so traumatic or messy. Fun stuff! Also be sure to notice Leslie's new friend. Jared and Daddy made a pink bear for Mommy to hold when she is getting her medicine. Mommy named her Chemo-Sabe. Mommy is very clever.

I get back from dropping kidlet off and head up to the 3rd floor where Leslie is already waiting in the infusion center. She's got her self into one of the nice leatherette recliners that are marked for patient use only and is already receiving fluids through the big 18 inch tube that is connected to the gigantic 3 inch needle that is inserted into the medi-port in Leslie's chest. (Bet you're getting a feel for how this stuff is connected by now, huh?)

I say hello to Pat and Amberlee and grab a seat across from Leslie in the infusion room. They start things off with a big ol' bag of saline to make sure everything is working ok. Follow that up with some anti-nausea drugs and then we wait for the poison/medicine from the pharmacy. Once it gets there we start dripping that into the mix. The first one goes pretty quickly and we're ready for the second one by around 9:30. The second bag just looks bad. It's bright red and immediately leaves a bad taste in Leslie's mouth. Amberlee is kind enough to give her a piece of chewing gum to help get rid of the taste. Both Amberlee and Pat are fantastic. Pat is a breast cancer survivor and Amberlee is just plain sweet. Thank you ladies!

While Leslie was receiving her meds today she got to meet another young woman with breast cancer. Tina is a few weeks ahead of Leslie in treatment and has moved on to the second type of chemo medicine. She has lost her hair and wears a knit cap to keep warm. She's a very kind woman and I can see that she and Leslie will be getting along well. Tina's son and husband both shaved their heads when she lost her hair. Very supportive and she seems to appreciate it greatly.

Once the chemo treatment was over we packed up and headed out. Leslie said she felt great at that point so we grabbed a bite to eat and she went on to work. By the way, if you're in Cheyenne and have a hankering for a great slice of pizza, drop by Mondello's. Great food and very friendly people.

Chemo is done, no big deal, Leslie went back to work, I went home. Boring day. Don't know what all the stress was about.