Round Two, Chemo # 1

I had my first chemo treatment today and boy, do I feel great! Mentally and emotionally, I feel relieved that we’ve started the fight attacking those cancer cells. Physically, I was a bit wiped out after the two-hour drip and fell asleep in the car on the way home and then took a two-hour nap as soon as I got home. But now, I feel great. And I don’t feel the dull achy pain in my right lung and back anymore and the shooting pains have almost stopped. I don’t know if the drugs can work that fast or if it’s just in my mind. Who cares? I think the drugs are working.

The doctor decided to use one chemo drug at a time to minimize the side effects and save more weapons in the arsenal to fight later on. So I’m getting the chemo drug Navelbine, plus Herceptin, which technically, is immunotherapy rather than chemotherapy. I’ll be on the IV drip once a week for three weeks, then two weeks’ rest, then repeat until we either see some signs of response or further spread of the cancer. If the latter, then we move on to the next drug on the list. I think that’s a good plan.

The doctor also said I probably won’t lose all my hair with this drug. My immediate reaction was disappointment. I’d kinda gotten psyched to be bald again. But now, I’d be happy to keep my hair. It’s starting to look a bit better, and I think I’ll scare people less if I don’t have visible signs of cancer.

So this has been a good day. I feel lucky, I really do.