I began my first chemotherapy treatment this afternoon. I’m not going to lie… I went in there very scared. Caleb was probably even more scared than I was. We had no idea what to expect so we knew the first time was going to be one of the hardest. I ended up with a very no nonsense type nurse who didn’t like answering questions; otherwise she was very nice. We were escorted to a private room with a bed, chair, and TV. I did not get chemo right away. They started with meds to prepare me for the chemo: steroids, a heart protectant, two anti-nausea medications, and a plasma protein infusion. That took almost two hours. I will say that I was very thankful for the steroids! Not only did it clear up the hives from the day before, it gave me some appetite! Definitely was not expecting that. I had to ask Caleb run to the vending machine because I was not prepared with any food.

After those medications were done, the “Red Devil” as it’s called was next. Doxorubicin is as red as they say and it looked very surreal when it started flowing into my arm. I was expecting the worst… but nothing happened. I just felt like me on steroids (haha). That took about 15 minutes. Then it was time for the ifosfamide. Again, no real side effects other than boredom from sitting there for 3 full hours.

I’m back at our hotel now. We actually walked the half mile back. I have a slight headache but overall I’m feeling pretty good. So I am counting today as a win! I don’t know if it will last or if tomorrow will be different, but we’re going to take this one day at a time. I’d say it’s a really good start to my journey.