Chemo 2, Day 1

The second round of chemo seemed to be linear to the first. Everything seemed to happen in the same sequence as the last session, only this time everything was intensified.

Friday (Dec.15th) I got all ready and went in to my second bout of chemo looking and feeling great. I wore my brown wig to the session and was mauled by all the chemo nurses as I arrived. Everyone thought it was a great change for me and they could not believe how real it looked. It was one of the first times I wore the wig out in public so it was reassuring to hear how realistic people thought it appeared.

The biggest worry in my mind at this point was whether or not this round of chemo would be worse than the last ... and whether or not anything crazy would happen this time, as it had the last. I figured I would take a big breath and face the inevitable and I watched blindly as they poked me with needles and ran those familiar drugs through my veins once again. During this treatment I was spoiled by a few visits-- first Dad, then Enzo, then Michael. The changes in scenery helped to take my mind off of what I was currently going through. During Michael's visit, we were also shown a video on how to administer a subcutaneous injection of Neupogen (the drug that is meant to stimulate the production of white blood cells in the bone marrow), which Michael and I would be giving to me at home once a day for 7 days, 72 hours following each treatment.

The second treatment seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and before I knew it I was heading home to fight another battle. If this battle was to be similar to the last I could handle it (minus the crazy reaction), but I was completely unsure of what was in store for me. Will it be the same? Will it be worse? Will I experience any new symptoms, like fatigue or south mouth? Will I take any more crazy reactions? All I could do was go home and wait for each symptom to appear. All I could do was deal with each individual battle as I was faced with it ...