7 1/2 Hours – My First Chemo Appointment

Because of my diagnosis of Stage III DLBCL (Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma), I was given the treatment plan of 6 cycles of R-CHOP Chemotherapy. That means that every 3 weeks, for 6 times, I will have infusions of the medications (the R-CHO part of the treatment), and then follow that with 5 days of Prednisone (the “P” in R-CHOP), a steroid pill. This, hopefully, will be enough to knock out every bit of the Lymphoma cells I have inside me.

On the day of my first infusion appointment, I arrived at the Froedtert Clinical Cancer Center at 8:00 AM, with my parents and boyfriend in tow. We began with my labs, where they accessed my newly placed port to draw my blood in order to check my levels before the pharmacy was able to get my chemotherapy drugs made up for me. This is the expected starting appointment before every day that I will receive chemotherapy.

Next, I met with my oncologist and his nurse to discuss how chemotherapy would effect my day to day life and the types of side effects that might come up throughout the course of my treatment. During chemotherapy, the biggest risks are catching some sort of infection and the possibility of getting debilitating side effects like nausea, vomiting, headaches, etc. The day-to-day side effects depend on the person, where no individual’s experience with chemo is exactly the same. Having to wait and see what side effects I will have is nerve-wracking in itself, but my doctors have solutions to most of the possible side effects and medications I can take to try to combat anything that might pop up.

After the appointment, I checked in with the Day Hospital, where I would be going every time I get chemo. Although I had to wait about 45 minutes to get into my room (the typical waiting time for them to start mixing up my medications, which they can’t do until I arrive), the hospital I receive treatment at has other amenities, like a cafe and cancer shop, where I could pass the time. Once I was able to go into the clinic, I found that each cancer patient had a comfortable separate room where the patients and their families could relax in a private environment. I had a gurney to lay in, though it wasn’t the most comfortable place. Hopefully, next time I might be able to have a recliner instead, I feel like I might be more comfortable that way.

Thus began the 7 1/2 hours of nurses pumping medications (a.k.a. poison) into my body. The first time, as I was told, is always the longest. Because of the increased possibility of negative reactions, especially to the first medication, they have to infuse it slowly, increasing the speed as long as no side effects come up. Luckily for me, I didn’t react at all. There were a few small things, like pain in my intestines and lymph nodes in the neck, and some weird ones like a little tingle in my nose. Nothing bad though, either my body reacted well or the small dose of Benadryl and steroids they gave me at the beginning of my treatment did the trick.

Each medication was given separately, starting with the slowest medication, Rituxan (the R in R-CHOP). Then came the CHO in R-CHOP, with no particular order. I was very thankful for the company of my parents for the first hour, and my trooper of a boyfriend, who stayed with my the whole day, as well as the nurses in the Day Hospital for all being so nice and lessening my anxiety about the first treatment. Overall, it was much longer than expected, but it wasn’t as scary as I thought. Really, the worst part was chewing on ice for a half an hour while the second medication was administered to prevent any mouth sores.

Until next time, chemo!