The time had come to start chemotherapy...

December 16th, 2014. My first day of chemo treatment. I was so nervous. I couldn't believe that this was actually happening. I wore my guardian angel, my wishing bone and my special bling bracelet for good luck and to help have someone and friends/family looking out for me. The Lakeridge Oshawa Chemo Centre is beautiful (If you can say that in about a place that you go for them to basically inject poison into you). The nurses even wear speacial plastic gowns and gloves the entire time they work with you. I sat in the chair and waited. A really nice nurse came over and introduced herself.  I was terrified. First she needed to flush out my PICC line.  Then their were two medicines to inject into me.  The first was the colour of red Kool-Aid and she had to manually inject me. The second was on a drip. As the second one was injected, I began to feel light-headed.  The nurse had to slow the speed of the injection down and add saline to relieve the light-headedness. I was also beginning to feel very tired. I'm not sure if the tired part was because of the drugs or from the adrenaline rush or both. A dietician met with us as well as a social worker. The social worker wanted to see how Derek and I were doing and put us in touch with Harth Place. There were a couple of workshops there that I was very interested in attending - 'Look Good Feel Better' and a special program that they have to help tell your children what you are going through. It comes with age/gender appropriate toys, and a book for parents and a book for the child to help them understand. Once chemo was over, I was told about the chemo precautions. I was probably going to urinate pink for the next couple days as the drug wears through me...interesting.I was also told that every time I use the bathroom for the next few days (or more) I need to flush the toilet twice. The chemo is a poison and they want to make sure that the drug is thoroughly flushed down. I also need to remember to close the lid of the toilet to avoid any splashback. We have assigned me to one toilet in the house to have Derek and Riley avoid any contact. Have no fear, if you drop by, it won't be one you would use!  Speaking of dropping by, you will also need to sanitize your hands as soon as you come in (sanitizer or a scrubbing) and PLEASE don't come by if you are sick. I am very susceptible to all communicable diseases and infections. Time to go home now right?  Wrong...more tests...