The day was finally here, June 14th - mom's first chemo infusion treatment. I slept very little the night before. There were a lot of "what ifs" roaming around my head. The big one was 'What if this chemo didn't work?'. Deep down that scared me to no end. But, I quickly put that thought out of my mind and focused on the day at hand.
I picked mom up early in the morning. She was zapped of energy and told me that she'd probably just sleep through the infusion. You could tell in her eyes that she was very scared of what was about to happen today. My mom's sister came along with us. She had been staying with mom for several weeks to help take care of her. It felt good to have another motherly figure around.
We began the day with a quick check-in and then we were taken to the infusion center at oncology clinic. To my surprise, the environment felt comforting. All the nurses and staff were so friendly and caring. As mom situated herself in her big comfy recliner we saw that they really try to have this be pleasant experience for the patient and the family. They had pillows, blankets, snacks, beverages, television, books etc. It didn't feel like a place of sadness. Dr. A even dropped by the infusion center to see how mom was doing.
Our chemo nurse for the day, began with a few infusions for pain, nausea and nutrients. This lasted a couple hours. Then we ran straight into the first chemo drug with was an IV push. Mom was given a popsicle to ease the initial nausea of that drug. Then once that was done, they started the second chemo drug via IV drips.
We were there for about 6 hours but surprisingly it didn't feel that long. Mom had expected to sleep but after the nausea meds kicked in, she was feeling great. She even told the nurse that today was the first day in months where she felt somewhat normal. It made me feel good to see a glimmer the mom I am use to seeing - energetic, talkative and smiling. She was even eating and drinking and asking for more!
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