'Wake Me Up When September Ends'
You have to understand, to those of you who don't know me personally, that I am writing this post-apocalyptically, metaphorically speaking. My personal experience on chemo will be different to everyone else. Everyone is an individual and therefore we all respond differently.
I had a PICC line put in as my veins corded and hardened. They could not get the infusion in via cannula. Epirubicin, the red devil, is notorious for this. This one is also the one that messes up your heart. The PICC line comes out the top with a cannula, a tap and a blue line. This is a fixed line which goes into a large vein in the upper part of your arm and then direct into the heart. This has a quicker, stronger effect than wandering along the yellow brick road from your hand etc. Also, the chemo nurses can take blood out via the PICC line. This is a godsend too as you need blood tests done before the chemo to check your blood count. I estimate that I have had at least 100 needles put in various parts of my body since being diagnosed. Being needle phobic is not an option wqhen you are diagnosed with cancer.
I still had a good head of hair after the first chemo so I did the coldcap again second time round. It was much more unpleasant.
After round two (Seconds out! Ding Dong!) things got harder. Physically and mentally. Chemo sends you to a dark, dark place. You count off the days and get into a pattern. Some days are really good. Other days sucked. I was determined to get up every morning and get dressed and get my kids off to school. Some days that was a superhuman effort . So when everyone had left the house, I slept, I hibernated like a bear.
So chemo, at least the next two sessions of FEC, continued through September. Before number 3 the hair startd to fall out.
