At some point yesterday, while sitting in a recliner at the clinic with an IV delivering chemo drugs in my right arm, I tried counting how many needles have poked me in the past few weeks. In the previous 12 hours, I’d had blood drawn twice from spots millimeters apart on my left arm. I had an IV for the PET-CT, for my first surgery, and for my first CT scan, but the nurse missed my vein twice before another nurse stepped in, so does that count as 3 or 1? And there were other blood draws too, but I only fainted the first time, but it should still count.
And for the bone marrow biopsy, I was lying on my stomach (with eyes closed for good measure – don’t want to accidentally catch anything in the peripheral vision), and I’m not sure how many needles they used for that procedure. Frankly, I still don’t want to know exactly what it looked like, because I’m still a little sore, and because I know one of the needles was like 10 inches long. So that needle should get a multiplier, right?
Anyway, I quit counting and just continued to let the chemotherapy fill my veins and get to work. It took 3 hours to get everything in (4 drugs in total – ABVD for short, if you’re interested), but in that time I had some DVDs to watch with my parents and cousin, and the time seemed to go by pretty quickly.
I seem to be reacting well to the chemo well so far, after one day. However, I’m told the effects usually aren’t felt for a couple days, so tomorrow could be a completely different story. And bright and early tomorrow I have surgery to get the port installed in my chest, so I’m just penciling in a day of recovery now. Other side effects take a bit to kick in. I should still have my hair for another couple weeks.
well, I think you quit counting after the first few needles. As for fainting, I know Keeley Kent must lie down each time she gets blood drawn. She had fainted so many times during this procedure she quit counting. When she had a steroid shot in her knee last spring, I asked her how it went and she said that after the Dr. administered the shot she kicked him in the crotch then went out and made it to the lobby before passing out. I had a good laugh.
On the serious side, our hearts and prayers go out to you as you begin this journey.
Lisa and Pat Kent
Luke, your blog is fascinating, both pre-cancer and now. Keep blogging – that is how we will know our prayers are being answered!
Always a math science guy, counting pokes. I definitely vote for a multiplier on the long one. The hair loss makes the adventure continue in style. We were so glad to see you out and about today! Blessings on the family weekend. M