Needles and Pins

The first time you get chemo's like a staring contest between you and the IV. Who will win? That bag full of clear fluid seems intimidating. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Turns out you don't feel much of anything during the treatment itself. At least I didn't at first. The only issue I had was the overwhelming need to pee. First you get a bag of anti-nausea medicine. Then they bring out the liter bags of whatever chemo drug(s) you're going to get. Chemo's some nasty shit, so after those are done, they flush your system with a liter of saline to help speed the chemo along and out of your system. That's a lot of fluids and a lot of trips to the bathroom, all made a little more difficult with an IV stand attached to your hand.

But other than that it wasn't a big deal. I was expecting nausea, vomiting, all sorts of bad stuff and it didn't happen. It was just me, the recliner and the IV. Most of the time I brought books to read that I had to review, and I tore through many. A lot of them were either cookbooks or about food in some way, making for a strange combination at times. I was even able to eat lunch while I was there most days.

I was one of the youngest patients there. It was primarily me and an ever-changing cast of older people for the most part. Occasionally there would be a younger woman in her late 30s, early 40s, but most people were elderly. And nobody had longer treatments than I did, it seemed. Though I wasn't the first one in, I was often one of the last ones to leave.

And so is the chemo. You'd think the side effects would be immediate, since it's going straight into your bloodstream, but no. Oh no. It waits a few days.