Chemo, Here We Come!
I will never forget Day #1 of treatment. Bryan was scheduled to take his first chemo pills that night, 2 1/2 hours after dinner. His energy level was so high (read: anxiety level) that he wouldn't stop moving ALLLLLLL day. From the moment we woke up, he was ready to get out the door and "do stuff." I think he was trying to get everything in our house prepared and set in the event the pills and treatment made him sick. So off we went...to Crate & Barrel, Costco, Trader Joes, Staples, CVS Pharmacy and Gelsons. We bought groceries, we exchanged broken wedding shower gifts, we updated our registry, we bought business card holders for his medical binder, we filled perscription after perscription.
When we got home, I was exhausted. But Bryan wasn't done. "Let's make pizza!" he said. So we opened our new pizza stone, chopped peppers and onions and tomatoes and basil. Then we floured up the cutting board and rolled our pizza dough. Covered in flour, sauce and two burn marks later, we had baked our own pizza. It was delicious, but I needed a nap. A serious, 14-hour nap.
I made the mistake of assuming that we were done. That soon, it would be "pill time." But as my dad taught me at the tender age of 19, don't assume anything. It makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me." We were not done. It was time to CLEAN. Make the bed. Take out the trash. Get the laundry out of the dryer. Fold.
The guy with the brain tumor was wearing ME out.
Finally it was time to take the first chemo pills. There were no actions or activities he could hide behind. No amount of unfolded laundry or unbaked pizza would hide the fact that it was time to start treatment. Bryan went into our room, got out his pills and sat on the bed. It was a very quiet moment. He took them and then just sat there, waiting. Waiting for something, anything to happen. Would be get sick? Would be nauseous for 6-weeks? Would he be able to function?
And what happened? Nothing. Not ONE thing. We went to bed and for the first time in 2 weeks, he slept through the night. No tossing, no turning. He was out like a light. He woke up and was perfectly fine. We're now on day 8 of treatment and guess what? No side effects. No sickness. No fatigue, other than regular emotional exhaustion that's caught up with him. We're beyond thrilled.
Like the radiation technician said, he's going to sail through this.
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