Day 1 - First Chemo Session

My first chemotherapy session was scheduled for my birthday. You might be thinking that is sort of cruel, but I would argue otherwise. Bear with me for a second here. I see this thing as a challenge, but I am confident I will beat it. The first chemo session was the first step towards the cure, the beginning of my rebirth. From now on, November 26th will mean birth and rebirth to me. By the end of this post, you will agree with me it was a happy birthday.

It was tough to sleep the night before the first session, though. I didn't have a clue of how the hospital was, how the treatment would feel like, how much pain I'd feel, or how sick I would get. In the very little time I fell asleep, I actually dreamed about going to the hospital and starting the chemotherapy.

I woke up at around 7am and went straight to the shower. I had a normal breakfast (some serial, juice and a couple of pieces of toast) and went to the hospital; I got there around 9am, straight to the chemotherapy section of the building. Up until then I was extremely worried and nervous. As soon as I walked in, things started to become a little more peaceful.

The hospital was nice, the nurses were extremely kind. They started the treatment at around 10am. The first drug they gave me was Dacarbazine (they're all given through IV); it's the one with the heaviest side effects, including nausea and a little burning sensation when it goes in. Thanfully I didn't feel any nausea, but the burning sensation made me really uncomfortable. The nurse had to slow down the infusion, which took 3 hours. The other three drugs (Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine) took an hour each to circulate through my body and I really didn't feel anything.

Of course there was some interval in between the drug infusions, so I spend the whole day in the hospital. My mom was there with me during the whole morning and we chatted a lot. She brought lots of food and we believe that helped to reduce the side-effects of the chemo. My sweetheart Raquel brought my mom and I soup for lunch and she stayed there with me for the rest of the day. We played some backgammon, watched a couple of movies, and hung out (ok, she helped me pee a couple of times). We left the hospital at around 8pm.

After this long day at the hospital, I got home and my mom had prepared some food and bought some cake. The house was decorated with balloons. My aunts that live in Porto Alegre got them delivered here so it would actually look like my birthday. A few friends came over, had some food, cake, and wine (no wine for me, though) and we had a good time.

Around 11pm I was filling a little tired and a little ill. So I just left the party and went to my bed to get some sleep. My friends sticked around and drank wine with my parents until mid-night. My sweetheart came along and tucked me in. She actually spent the whole night watching me to make sure I was doing well. She's my angel.

To wrap this post up, I spent the whole day around my family and the love of my life. I had a little get together with my friends, and I even got some gifts. And I was feeling completely healthy. How was that not a happy birthday?

PS: These posts might get a little corny at times. I apologize, I can't help it.

I will not bend, I will not break.