Ally and I met Sarah, Chrissy, and Mary for breakfast at Magnolia Haus this morning. Thanks, ladies! It was a great start to my day!
Following breakfast, Ally took me to my appointment. When I arrived at the treatment center, Susan (my assigned Nurse) and LaDonna (the Nurse Supervisor) both called me back and spoke with me in the whole. LaDonna was there to deliver some "bad news." I was worried. Two things. Howevever, the first was a little expected: I need to get a port for treatment. (I'll tell you more about it soon.) The second was that the Dr had forgotten to write up my treatment orders and he's on vacation. Nice.
Ally and I prayed that we'd be able to go ahead today. LaDonna said that if she could get the vein we'd do the treatment. If not, we'd need to get the port first. Thankfully, she was able to get the vein with one stick and a little digging. Not fun at all, but better than having the anticipation of this stuff for another week.
Then we had to sit and wait while LaDonna called the Dr on vacation. I'm so thankful that she was willing to do that for me. After just a short time, or at least it seemed that way while I visited with Ally, the orders were given and she hung the first bag of chemicals.
When it was time to put in the 2nd chemical, she needed to pull back some blood thru the IV line to make sure it was placed perfectly. The 2nd drug is very toxic and can blister and burn any tissue it touches outside of the vein. (Scary.) She was unable to pull back enough blood to feel comfortable with putting it in that vein. So, she had to start a 2nd IV. Since it was just going to be required for a few minutes, she did it in the elbow vein. I love it when they do it there ... at least as much as any sane person can "love" getting an IV. It just doesn't hurt as much as other places.
So, she was able to place the 2nd IV quite easily and she pushed the drugs into the IV line with a syringe and then flushed it with the rest of the 1st meds ... or maybe it was saline. I don't remember for sure.
Anyway ... So that's why I need a port. I have very non-cooperative veins. A port is basically a valve that they place in the chest that has a tube going into a vein. Similar to Ryan's mic-key port, only mine will go into a vein instead of into the stomach.
I felt fine leaving the place, although I did notice a weird feeling in my mouth. It's kind of a mix between tickling and swelling and fuzzy tongue feeling. It's weird. That's still going on. The other thing is about 4 hours after chemo, my head really started hurting. It's a different kind of headache. Intense, but it's like a column of pain that starts at the top of my head just above my eyes and goes down the middle of my head onto my neck. My neck doesn't hurt as if I had laid on it wrong or pulled a muscle. It hurts like a headache hurt. I've never felt such a thing. I also have a slighly dizzy feeling. Not full dizzyiness just enough to be unsettling.
As for stomach, it has felt fine all day but tonight it's starting to feel a little weird. I've opted to take an anti-nausea pill to just avoid the whole pukey face night.
I am really tired and want to see if some peppermint extract and rest will help with this headache. But I wanted to make sure I posted this tonight so that all of you wonderful people who are praying for me will know how much I appreciate your prayers and your thoughtfulness. I believe that my strength and my families' strength comes from God and I know that He has blessed us so abundantly because of the prayers of the faithful, because of you. I know that He will bless you, too.
Not long ago there was a commercial on tv that was sweet. Dwight taught Deborah the words to the song and they would often sing it together. Today the sweet little lady was walking around the house singing ... "It's a love-ly day to be together. I doubt that life can get any better."
So sweet!
The picture below is a "stander." It will help Ryan to get used to pressure/weight on his legs. Hopefully, we'll be able to strengthen his legs so that he can stand eventually. This comes in other colors than just pink, thankfully. It also comes in blue and green. Can you guess which color we'll be ordering? :)
The next picture is a KidKart wheelchair/stroller. They brought one like this over for us to try last week and I loved it. The only problem is that Ryan will probably outgrow it in 1-2 years and insurance will only cover a new wheelchair every 4-5 years. Since they cost about $4,500-$5,000 we think it'd be better to buy the next step up.
The "Gizmo" is definitely more wheelchair than stroller like. But, it can be adjusted to fit him perfectly now, and can later be adjusted to fit him as he grows. The best part about getting Ryan a wheelchair/stroller is that it will give him a lot of trunk support and help him to stay in the best position for his little body. And, yes, it does fold and will fit in my van trunk; however, it does weigh about 20 pounds. 
They are coming over again this Friday to measure him for all the equipment and then we should be ready to place the order. I hope it doesn't take long to get it. Next, I need to find a good car seat for him. He is a half pound from outgrowing his infant carrier car seat. His next car seat will need to still be rear facing. 
Tonight I received a text message from my nephews Kevin and Jason wishing me good luck with tomorrow's chemo. It included a picture of Jason ... he has shaved his head in support of me. Isn't that the coolest thing ever??