The day started out with Greg getting his PICC line. I posted a video a couple days ago about how this is done, so I won't post it again. Once Greg was taken into the operating room, it took about a half hour for the procedure to be done. Greg was worried about any pain he might feel, because it HAS to hurt having that long tube traveling through your body, but when he came back, he said he couldn't feel a thing! He was VERY happy!
So, here's a picture of the PICC line:
He only has one "lumen" and from that they can withdraw blood or give him meds. This is awesome, because that means NO MORE POKES! YAY!!!!!
Next was an appointment with the oncologist, but that wasn't until 10:45 a.m., so we had a lot of time to spare. We decided to go out for breakfast, seeing as neither of us had eaten, and we didn't know if we would have time for lunch, breakfast seemed like a good idea! We went to a place near where I work (OK, the building I used to work in), called the Blue Willow Cafe and were pleasantly surprised to find the parking lot FULL! That's always a good sign! After we sat down we saw lots of plaques on the wall that they were voted "Best Breakfast" in the area! Ended up being a great choice! Two eggs, hash browns with onions in them and whole wheat toast for $4.99! Greg had the same thing, so a good breakfast at a sit down restaurant cost us less than McDonald's! BOOM!
So, after getting back to the Cancer Center and meeting with the Oncologist, it was time to start his first chemo. Because it's so hard on the kidneys, they first have to hydrate you, and that takes an hour for the entire bag to drip. Next came the various drugs that entail the chemo cocktail. Greg had to use the restroom, and while in there, he decided to take some pictures! LOL Of course, I got a couple too!
I really don't like how pictures post on Blogger! ACK!
To make a hectic day even more hectic, I had a doctor's appointment at 2:45 p.m. to review my meds. I figured it would work OK as my doctor is on the same campus as the Cancer Center. By the time I got back, Greg was already gone to his first radiation treatment.
The "leads" that you see on his chest are for his pacemaker. Apparently, they measure the amount of radiation his pacemaker is getting. Because of the leads and pacemaker, he had to get more tattoos! He's now got 3 or 4 purple dots on his chest so they can line everything up properly.
After the radiation, Greg got hooked up to his 5FU, which is the chemo that he will have 24/7 over the course of five days. He was given a portable infusion pump that has the chemo meds in it and has a couple of different "bags" to keep the infusion pump in, so he can move around, etc. The infusion pump looks like this:
The clear/smokey area at the bottom is where the medicine is kept. We also have an "emergency chemo bio-wipe bag," in case there would be a spill. According to the nurse, that has never happened, so we're not too concerned! The 5FU chemo will pump continuously until Friday, at which time the nurses will remove it and he'll be free for 28 days!
We finally left the hospital at 4:30 Monday afternoon. It was a completely exhausting day, for both Greg and me. We came home, ate dinner, and both of us went to bed!
Unfortunately, Greg wasn't able to sleep very well. Between the chemos and the steroids that everyone who gets chemo is put on, he was wide awake after just a couple hours. It's going to take him some time to get used to everything. In addition, the steroids make him CRANKY!
If anyone's wondering about me, well, working at home is going well and I'm very happy to be at home. It's kind of odd, because I don't even need an alarm clock! I have one set, just in case though. It is pretty awesome to be able to walk down two flights of stairs and start working! So, I guess I'm doing OK. It could be better, and it could be worse.
Just for fun, here's a picture of Greg with all the "stuff" hanging on him! I now call him "Lumpy Greg!!"
With that, I'm going to end this post. It's time for me to relax. Night all!
Blessings!
Julie
Greg's Go Fund Me
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