This video gives a pretty accurate summary of what many cancer patients experience, from the initial diagnosis to chemo therapy treatment.
Russy’s Chemo Therapy – Choices
It’s day #2 of chemo therapy for me. Other than the fact that my beloved routine and schedule are all messed up, the chemo therapy itself is going quite well. The doctor and nurses said I would have no side effects during the first few days as they have me loaded up with ‘happy’ steroids and anti-nausea meds.
The one thing that did really freak me out yesterday was getting the intra-venous needle. I was given a ‘choice’:
- Do I want to get poked and probed every single day, causing me discomfort, pain, anxiety, multiple bruises, (plus about 100 other things designed to make me squirm – can you tell I was being ‘influenced’ in my decision with this chemo therapy?)
- Or do I want this simple, temporary needle – we poke you once and you keep it in for three days?
This Is Chemo Therapy – Be a MAN!
I have to briefly backtrack to last fall when I insanely consented to a series of acupuncture treatments. The practitioner sent me home with three 8-inch needles sticking out of my hand. I was to keep them there for merely three hours once I reached home. I tolerated it for about 30 minutes, yanking them out with a proliferation of profanity worthy of a drunken sailor. That absolutely was my last straw – pun completely intended!
Now this nurse was dredging up those sharp and painful memories (OK Russy, enough with the puns) and telling me I was to have a needle embedded in my arm for THREE DAYS! Are you kidding me!
OK, so this nurse formerly sold ice cubes to Eskimos. Not only did she work extra hard to build up my fear of the ‘daily’ option, she also took full advantage of the fact that Maggie was there beside me. The nurse used Maggie for leverage. Nothing like a little, “Oh, Honey… be a MAN!” to get me to comply with their way of chemo therapy. 
As usual, my veins took a deep-dive when the needle approached. It didn’t help when the nurse told me that she was ‘new here’, too. I knew from several past experiences with green personnel and trainees that HER INEXPERIENCE meant she would take several stabs and jabs before parking that needle.
Getting Armed for Chemo Therapy
I braced myself for the worst… I wasn’t disappointed, getting pretty much what I expected. I writhed and squirmed. I grimaced. I sputtered expletives, just doing my part to help the ‘new girl’ as she haplessly tried to pin down my shy and elusive viaduct.
All the while, Maggie sat beside me cooing, “Oh, Honey…”
But now that I’ve had this device in for over 24 hours, I have to admit that it really isn’t that bad. I was able to sleep last night. I can still type with full hand flexibility. It really IS better than getting poked every day. It will certainly make the chemo therapy that much easier to take. I definitely Love That Feeling!
