Cancer kicking starts now

My first of 16 rounds of chemo starts today. And if all goes the way I and the doctors want, by mid-January the cancer will be completely gone. So on the one hand, I’m super excited to get going on the “cancer-kicking” part of my treatment.  But I’m also really scared. I don’t know how chemo will make me feel, and when faced with unknowns, I tend to emotionally prepare for the worst case scenario (maybe not the best approach in this case).

So, I tried to do everything possible to prepare for the unknown. I probably read 20 different websites last night on what to pack in your chemo bag (by site 5 I realized they all said the same thing but kept going because what if there is one REALLY IMPORTANT thing that doesn’t get mentioned by most of the sites?!). Once I actually figure out what’s useful I’ll  share, for now I think I’ve packed like I’m ready to hike Mt Everest – so I probably have a few things I don’t actually need.

My goal is to get my 16 rounds completed in 20 weeks – the plan outlined by my oncologist. In order to do that, I have to stay relatively healthy. If I stop eating and lose more than 10lbs, if I catch a cold and my white blood cells start dropping, or if for any reason my temperature rises above 100.5F I have to delay the next treatment until I’m “better” – so I’m doing everything I can to stay healthy and get this chemo shit done as quickly as possible.

We’re leaving for the hospital in 15 minutes and then it all really starts.

Unfortunately I have no idea what today is going to feel like. And that scares the crap out of me.

Fortunately, 8 hours from now I’ll have my first round under my belt, and then I just have to wash/rinse/repeat 11 more times with this first round of drugs before switching to AC.