long farkin' day

There was a lot of waiting. We didn't "start" the chemo until 3:15, and even that was just testing my reaction to the drugs; I didn't get the full dose until 4:40, thus leaving the Clinic at 7:40. Driving was slow due to the snow, then we stopped at Avon Commons for some gift cards (Christmas shopping), Sam's Club for gas, and CVS for anti-nausea medicine. We got home just before 10:00 and ate a bit of dinner at 10:30 (all we had had was sandwiches while driving to the Clinic and soup and crackers while I was doing the chemo). So, it's been a very long day.

The procedure itself was fine. I felt perfectly normal, and still do now. The room had a small TV/VCR, so I watched How The Grinch Stole Christmas (I wasn't sure if they would have a VCR or DVD, so I brought that on VHS as well as a DVD of A Charlie Brown Christmas just in case). I should be getting a fever tonight, as is typical. The nurse suggested I take one of the anti-nausea meds before going to bed, as the lack of food overnight can cause nausea in the morning, and it's better to take it at the first sign of queasiness--e.g. if the thought, smell, or taste of food makes me queasy. I warned work that I may not be in tomorrow, since I won't really know until I wake up whether I will feel like going in (I also brought some easy stuff home with me to work on, if I want to put a few hours in from home).

Just like every visit, there was a lot of information dispensed today, such as:

• I may just have thinned hair, rather than losing hair. This should start in 3-4 weeks.
  
• Low white blood cell count won't happen for a week yet.
  
• Foods may taste different.
  
• To help avoid nausea, it's best to spread eating out across the day, rather than cramming everything into 3 meals.
  
• Also to help avoid nausea but also just to stay healthy, I should only have fats, sweets, and alcohol rarely (also smoking but I don't smoke, so that's easy). They gave me a little booklet with tips on what to eat during chemo, emphasizing high-protein recipes and ways to increase the flavor of foods, as things will have less or different flavor (e.g. an orange would be good as is, but chicken should be marinated in something flavorful such as Italian dressing). The idea is to figure out what foods appeal to your body so you know what you're able to eat, to make sure eating doesn't become a negative mentally.
  
• The Q. Public's image of the cancer patient praying to the porcelain god and getting ridiculously thin is no longer accurate, thanks to anti-nausea medicines. Now, people doing chemo actually tend to gain some weight.
  
• Dryness: I may need to use hand lotion more, may not need to use anti-oily shampoo for my hair, may need to use eyedrops more for contact lenses, and {drum roll plz} acne may go away. w00t!
  
• Lots of other stuff but these are the ones off the top of my head.

I'll take this opportunity to mention that everyone I've met and dealt with at the Cleveland Clinic has been extremely friendly and informative and helpful (excluding my dad's run-in with a receptionist during my biopsy). That, along with the notion that there are no stupid questions and the patient is also not stupid, goes a long way to making me feel at ease.