The actual treatment starts...

Its hard to believe that the days could possilby get any longer...but they do. We started with radiation this morning at 9:00 am at the radiologist's office. They checked the radiation field and then administered about 15 minutes of radiation. Roger afterward said it kinda felt like a sunburn. From there we went upstairs to the second floor to oncology. Roger was in the chair at 10:20am. We left the oncology center, after completing the last of 8 bags of drugs/chemicals, at 7:30 pm. It was a long day. I've included a couple pictures from when we were in the chemo area. One shows his "port" where the drugs are fed to Roger interveinously.

Fortunately, one of the several anti-nausea/anti-vomiting drugs that they gave Roger had a sedating effect. So Roger was able to nap on and off throughout the time in the chemo chair. We packed snacks, drinks, food, movies, computers, etc to occupy the time as best we could. Roger found a chair that was off in a corner away from all the other patients getting treatment - though further away from the windows than I would have liked, it turned out to be the very best spot because we were out of all the chaos. Roger had an appetite throughout the day including dinner this evening.

He seems to feel "alright"...a little puny, but OK for all practical purposes. The nurse told us, if Roger does experience the chemo effect, it will most likely start on day three of treatment, Thursday, and will continue for several days. For now, he's ok. He has a tube leading from the port to a "pump" that he will carry around with him until Friday. They will remove the pump Friday. The pump is administering a second type of chemo drug, 5FU. The one he received today for 6 hours was Cisplatin. We both had a laugh when the nurse produced a fanny pack for Roger to wear to carry the pump and drug. You see, Roger has a tendancy to poke fun at people with fanny packs. I should have had the camera handy when he put the pack on...his outfit was plaid shorts and bright blue fuzzy hospital socks with this flipflops and a very handsome black fanny pack. Very studly. :-)

There was ,of course, another "roger moment" when he had to harass the sweet little nurse who had been helping us all day today. I guess he didn't "harass" her - he just let his warped twisted sense of humor out. The nurse was hooking up the pump, trying to tape down the tubes that ran from the port in his chest to the pump/fanny pack. She kept trying to move or relocate the tube on the chest as she was afraid the friction would irritate Roger's nipple. Mr. Eloquent said he didn't mind as long as he could still play with his nipples....poor little nurse. Fortunately she burst out laughing, shook her head in my direction and said "I have a husband like this of my own. I feel for you."

It was tough for both of us today - just sitting in the waiting rooms. Patients were wheeled in from ambulances, on stretchers, in wheel chairs, walking with canes, etc. In the chemo ward, you saw these incredibly frail women and men - too frail to be walking let alone getting huge doses of poison pumped into their veins. It was very moving.

I had the pleasure of seeing an old friend from high school. George is battling colon cancer. We had a nice moment to catch up and briefly share the journey of cancer. George has been fighting his fight for several years. Its a small world, getting smaller every day.

The balance of the week will be daily trips to radiation and chemo. We thought we'd be able to avoid going to chemo every day because Roger has the pack. The nurse said today that they want us back every day so that they can give Roger anti-nausea and anti-vomiting drugs and give him fluids to replenish his system. While inconvenient, we both like the fact that they want to try to minimize the discomfort that Roger will ultimately feel.

So, we enjoyed the evening when we got home. Had take-out from our favorite italian restaurant. Then, when Roger was up for it, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Cleared our lungs, got the kinks out of our system, and got some good fresh air for Roger.

Tomorrow is another day. Keep all the positive thoughts coming our way. Lv, R&A