day one of treatment...

The day was very, very crazy. The team here at COH is amazing. These are a few just a few of the people I have on my team:
3 Doctors that rotate caring for me on a 2 week basis
Social Worker
Occupational Therapist
Recreational Therapist
Chaplin
Clinical Trial Team Manager
Case Manager
Pediatric Doctor
RN
PCA (Patient Care Assistant)
Charge Nurse
Dietitian
I met each one of them, listen to each one tell me "here's my card" call me if you need anything! The hardest part of having all of these visits is that the nurses were working really hard at getting my blood count up high enough to have a lumbar puncture with a small amount of chemo and a bone marrow draw. Both which involve a very large needle! Part of getting ready for these test is I get a very high dose of benedryl to keep me from having an allergic reaction so that makes me very sleepy and made it hard to stay focused on what each one of them was telling me and then signing something which was stating that I understand/agree, huh? Well, the topper was when I had to listen to the explanation of the study program. It was a 48 page document and of course the doctor had to explain each page which included the drug names, that I couldn't pronounce if I needed to, the side effects of these drugs, as if any one of them would be something I want to deal with or could keep from happening. I guess they don't know that I live by my dad's attitude "it is what it is" and just wanted to say "yes, where do I sign?" I know that it is all for the best possible treatment involved and for that I am grateful.

So after the big day and all of the commotion, I ordered my dinner and then crashed at about 8pm and slept through my first treatment of what is called "induction".  At 10:24pm, I had 2 different drugs introduced: the first took 5 minutes to go in through the IV and then the second drug followed and it was what they called a "push" which goes in by syringe directly into the IV port.

The best part? I slept through it and had absolutely no side effects or reactions and my mom is in the room watching over me and every breath I take.  Good night...

Little reminder: Because of the chemo, my system is very weak and I cannot have visitors for a few days, so please text or call before you head down. Also, it is a hospital policy that absolutely no plants, balloons or flowers be allowed in the hospital. This is because of the possible exposure to bacteria for all the patients being treated here. My mom is working on an alternate idea. I'll keep you posted.