Thankfully some of the nausea has cleared and I feel a little bit more like myself so I can tell you how the last couple of weeks have been.

I started chemo on April 2 and the chemo was given over two days outpatient through a picc line in my arm.  The first five days of treatment, I was dosed up with the steroid prednisone, which propped me up and made me feel pretty good and also tricked me into making a bunch of promises I couldn't keep.  I emailed my boss and told her I would be in the office soon, I made plans with friends.

On the sixth day, the nausea hit and was so extreme that I was not strong enough to do a port line surgery on April 10th.  They cancelled at the hospital because I was too ill and dehydrated. It was a very frustrating experience because at the least, I was looking forward to being knocked out for the procedure.

The nausea was constant and round the clock.  I was up all night with stomach cramps and vomiting.  I could find little relief.  By day 4, Nicole was forcing me to take a drink every 20 mins just so I could stay hydrated and was not being a good patient.  With round the clock anti nausea meds and taking bites and sips every hour or so, I reached an unhappy but tenable equilibrium.  I couldn't do anything productive, but I wouldn't give up either.

Unfortunately, on day 5, I got a fever.  This is one of the symptoms that the oncology team want to know about right away, so we called the nursing team and the ordered us to the emergency room and I was once again admitted to the hospital.  After Chemo, your white blood cell count is in the cellar so you are immunocompromised and prone to infection.  While in hospital, they ran every culture and test for infection they could find and in the end, I didn't have an infection, just my body responding to being "neutrophilic" - having no white blood cells.

But while in hospital, they worked round the clock to address my nausea and each day was incrementally better until I was released 4 days later with a much healthier white blood cell count and a truce (temporary, Im sure) with the nausea demon.

Chemo Round 1 Overview:
Chemo Days 1-5: Chemo-shmemo...this is no big deal, I can do anything I want, lets make some grand plans for the next few days.
Chemo Days 6-10: Nausea demon settles in my gut, gnaws at my soul and my will to live, pale, unable to eat or drink.  Friends and loved ones forcing me to take a sip of water every 15 minutes.
Chemo Days 11-14: Slowly come back to myself, learn to manage meds and side effects, starts returning calls and messages, sending updates.

Unfortunately, Chemo Round 2 will be a new challenge because it will be different that the Pola R-CHP, I received for Chemo Round 1.  It is also slightly delayed due to the fact that I do not yet have a chemo port (chest line for administering chemo).  The picc line was a bust, the many attempts to re-insert the picc line failed, I was "vein shamed" by these older nurses and in the most polite way, I told them to GTFO of my hospital room.

My port placement surgery is April 27 and Chemo Round 2 starts on April 28.  Until then, I am going to attempt normalcy.  Maybe I will see you at work or around the way. 

PS - I really believe that your vibes, prayers, messages, texts, and calls got me through days 5-10.  I can't thank you enough.