Chair 27, Chair 29 and Chair 43

Chair 27 was where my infusion was scheduled to take place at 12:30.  I was too busy getting an IV put in, signing up for research studies (just one, not two like they asked), and getting hugs and kisses on the cheek from sweet Dr. Muss!  Needless to say,  we were late getting upstairs to infusion!  Now the room was packed, and we were handed a beeper (we kind of felt like we were at Outback) and told we could go get something to eat.  The wait would be at least 30 minutes for a chair.  This really turned out to be a good thing.  We had arrived at 11:15 am and knew infusion would take several hours, so off to find some lunch we went.  Those sweet Smith girls walked over to say hello and offer hugs and support before my first treatment began.  Lori came bearing a bag of yummy chocolate covered snack goodness!  DELICIOUS!

Chair 29 was the chair I sat down in to let the healing begin!  Super sweet Patty was my nurse, with a flower in her hair, and a constant smile on her face.  A fluid drip for an hour, then 30 minutes of pre-meds, and I was ready for trip #1 to the bathroom.  Well, at the same time, since we were nearing 4 pm, they were clustering all infusion folks together in one spot, so we packed up and moved our stuff.

Chair 43 was where I landed and finished the before chemo meds.  At the end of the meds, my IV started burning, so out with IV #1 and in with IV #2.  Jerome was great at it, so I can't complain, but let's be honest, even when they are good at it, it still hurts a bit.  Lucky for me it lasted just long enough to get both my chemo meds in before it started burning again and would have had to be replaced with IV #3.  The first chemo med was Adriamycin, the one that just so happens to really make you embrace the color pink....in the bathroom!  :-) Sweet Nurse "Ch" (I don't want to misspell it, so when I find it out, I will fix it) had to push the Adriamycin in through two syringes.  She sat with Jason and me and talked like we had known each other for years.  She shared with us lots of information about a port, because although I had been leery of one before, after my second IV went in today, I was starting to think I wanted one.  The last chemo drug was Cytoxan, and it dripped in over an hour and "Ch" was kind enough to tell me that it would give a sinus headache feeling, and sure enough it did. It  made my head feel numb and my nose didn't get stuffy, it just burned!  The Pilot episode of "The Big Bang Theory" kept us smiling and laughing though (thanks Kelly for loading those on the Ipad and for letting us borrow it)!  Around 6:30 we were walking out with Infusion #1 behind us, a Starbucks smoothie in hand and even a piece of coffee cake!   Didn't end up drinking or eating much, started feeling sick in the car.  We came home and ate something and then I landed on the couch for the rest of the evening.

Lots of different feelings: nausea for sure, to the point I couldn't keep my head off the pillow, a tingling head, which was by far the weirdest feeling, I wanted Jason close by, but I didn't want anyone touching me.  All in all, it could have been worse, but it wasn't and it went away pretty quickly to only come back in spurts during the night.  Slept well, thanks to my parents for staying with Jason and I, and to GiGi and Pappy for letting Sawyer sleep over.  That way, every one got a good's night sleep, I hope! :-)

The highlights of my first infusion day:
*Reading my devotional, you know that same one that I read every morning, and it reminding me to keep my eyes on God!  This was the same scripture that Mrs. Faye quoted me a few days ago, and it really stuck in my mind, so when you see things twice like that, to me, it's just another sign from God that everything is going to be just fine!
*Kisses from Sawyer and the faith of my four year old.  Every time we have talked with him about Mommy going to the hospital to get medicine or to have a test, his response is "God will take care you, Mommy!"  He's asked no questions, just emphatically said the same thing during each conversation.  I love this boy!
*Sweet Doctors and Nurses who told me everything to expect, so I wouldn't be surprised during or after treatment and who even save me cell numbers to call them on, if I needed to them!
*My best buddy right beside me all the way, knowing right when to put his hand on mine and knowing right when to just scoot near me, but not touch! ;-)
*Loving friends and family, who called, texted, or stopped by to check on us!  I know I say it all the time, but you folks have no idea what that does for me!  I am blessed by all my cheerleaders!

Friends, I am so blessed and thankful to have one behind me.  All the unknowns are gone, well, maybe not the inevitable "when will Suzanne be completely bald;" but who cares, it will grow back and in the mean time I'll sport some cute hats, wraps and even a buff! (Can't wait to see what color Mo and Rob picked out for me! Too sweet!) 

One thing I know for certain is this.  Sunday night, Sawyer and I were reading The Berenstain Bears Easter Storybook (Thanks Eric, Tonya and Lofton).  Of course, this is the story of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and all I could think about that night was that in fact my Jesus did that for ME, and I will never experience the suffering that He did.  Chemo will be tough, but nothing like that.  But I pray that I will somehow be able to help further His Kingdom through my experiences with Breast Cancer.