First mini chemo session done

1 minute read time.

Today I had my first treatment. I’m not going to lie I was very anxious this morning before heading in. I barely had any lunch as it felt like heading into the unknown.

I had my port fitted on Monday so I’m sore but intrigued about how it all works and grateful that the medical team don’t have to keep punching holes in my arm for blood tests and treatment! 

Today was like a mini session or pre-session before I have the main first treatment tomorrow. I only had one drug (Pertuzumab) for a short session, well relatively so, only 1.5 hours. The idea was to check I was ok with this one and didn’t have any adverse reaction to it or more accurately the solution it’s given in. Thankfully all seems to be well so I can crack on with this one in the coming weeks.

The main event for treatment this week will be tomorrow (my birthday so I’m sure it will be an occasion I’ll never forget) when I get the other three drugs and will be trying out the cold cap (a device which is used to freeze your hair follicles to help prevent hair loss) and will be there for about six hours. It is likely to affect me more than today and the coming weeks will tell how this treatment is going to manifest in side effects, so watch this space!

But from today I feel ok just a little tired. I’m glad I had this mini session to get me more familiar with the centre I’ll be going to to have my treatment and also with the amazing medical team there who are just so incredible. I also got the opportunity to talk to other patients with similar experiences which was invaluable.

I know it’s only going to get more difficult but I feel more prepared now and even more determined to keep fighting on.

Anonymous
  • I know it's most certainly NOT the most challenging aspect of all this, but I don't think I'd ever quite realised how much time chemo takes? 6 hours - wow, I'm such an impatient person that I reckon I would be fidgeting after the first 20 minutes! I'm guessing that books, podcasts and downloads are going to be invaluable over the coming weeks. Let us know if you need any recommendations x

  • I know it's most certainly NOT the most challenging aspect of all this, but I don't think I'd ever quite realised how much time chemo takes? 6 hours - wow, I'm such an impatient person that I reckon I would be fidgeting after the first 20 minutes! I'm guessing that books, podcasts and downloads are going to be invaluable over the coming weeks. Let us know if you need any recommendations x

  • Thanks, thankfully the longer session involved a nice long nap! So that helped pass the time Thumbsup But also I will only be having them every three weeks with smaller sessions inbetween with just one drug weekly, so the time, I think, will be reduced a bit. I’ll let you know after Thursday!