The Beginning of Treatment

So, chemotherapy session number one came and went today. I spent three hours at Columbia Basin Hematology and Oncology Center where I had by my count 8 different substances fed into the port in my chest via IV. After the treatment, I felt pretty good and went to Walmart with my mom to pick up my anti-nausea prescription (Zofran), as well as a few other things.

When we went to pay for the prescription, we got a shock, as the Zofran was over $500 for twenty pills! I talked to the pharmacist, Kyle, about any alternatives, and he said that Zofran is usually reserved for where other nausea medicines haven’t worked, and use it as a last resort. He called Dr. Sierra’s office to confer with one of the chemotherapy nurses, Cynthia. She said that something weaker would be fine, and changed the prescription to Phenergan, which was only $6.

While at Walmart, I ran into a woman named Kathy who overheard me talking to the pharmacist about my chemotherapy. She went through chemotherapy for breast cancer a couple of years ago. In addition, she volunteers in the Wellness Center at Columbia Basin Oncology. We chatted a bit about what I should expect, and some of the things it is important to do. Probably the biggest thing I took from it was advice to not push my friends and family away. I’ve already caught myself doing that several times, and I need to make a conscious effort to not do that. To anybody I’ve already tried to push away (especially Dana and mom), I apologize profusely, and I will make it my #1 priority to be there for you guys, as I know this is tough on you too.

After grabbing a sandwich from Subway, I went home, took an anti-nausea pill, and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the phone would not stop ringing. Some well-wishers, which I certainly appreciate, but mostly telemarketers, which really annoyed me.

However, one of the phone calls was from Kyle the pharmacist. He said that Cynthia from the Cancer Center called him back, and I shouldn’t take the Phenergan, and he would exchange the prescription to Kytril. He said I should call Dr. Sierra’s office to confirm this was okay. Of course, I panicked, as I had already taken one of the pills. I called Cynthia, and she said that the Phenergan should be okay. I asked why she called them and told them to switch, and she said that she was concerned that the Phenergan wouldn’t be strong enough. She does have some drug rep samples back at the office of a stronger anti-nausea drug that I could pick up, though I can’t remember the name of the drug. My mom said she would head over to the office and pick them up for me. After all this, I went back to sleep.

After waking up from my nap, I sat down and played a little poker. I played some $50 NL on FullTilt, and though I certainly didn’t have my A-game, I was able to double my buyin in an hour. Unfortunately, my head started pounding, and I started getting nauseous, so I had to call it a night from the game. I decided to relax and watch some TV before heading to bed. My mind was racing over what tomorrow will bring.