Round two of inpatient chemo didn't go exactly as we were expecting. The plan was to be able to go home once the infusion was completed and sleep in our own bed, all because the first desensitization went so well. We had our same chemo nurse as we did the first time, Tonya, who is simply amazing! She always is so sweet and has all of her ducks in a row. She makes sure pharmacy is on top of things so she has all of my medications lined up and ready to go. So here is the line up of medications. I had medications I had to take all weekend to prep my body to avoid an allergic reaction. We get directly admitted to a room on the oncology floor, also known as the penthouse since it is on the 9th floor. After getting my port-a-cath accessed, my premeds get hung and infuse. These are more IV Benadryl, steroids, Pepcid, and a long-acting anti-nausea medication. Once these are done, my Taxol (chemo that I don't have an issue with) gets infused over one hour. THEN starts the Carbo in 12 separate bags with an increasing doses with each bag.
Ted and Connie were kind enough to bring us lunch and dinner. My hospital dinner was good, so I got to enjoy a peppermint chocolate chip milkshake! Yum!
Tonya, my nurse, worked past her shift to hang my last bag before she left. Meredith was taking over as my next nurse. She saw me start to have a hot flash, I kicked my covers off. After the last chemo bag was hung, I got up to go to the bathroom. This is always a difficult task since I'm hooked up via my port, EKG leads, blood pressure cuff, and oxygen monitoring. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that my ears were bright red. Kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the flushing went down my arms and to my chest. I started having itching on my chest and back. Meredith immediately put my chemo on hold and called the PA, Liz. 
Meredith on the phone with Liz, who talked with Dr. Wallace since Dr. Skinner (our oncologist) was on vacation. Everyone on my medical team decided that my premeds just wore off by the last bag of Carbo. I got all of the premeds once again. So that is DOUBLE the steroids! The Carbo ended up being on hold for 2 1/2 hours and once the premeds were done infusing, the Carbo was restarted at half of the rate as before. At least this was a mild reaction, no change in my heart rhythm or rate, and no breathing issues.
My good friend from my GYN cancer group, Kim, came by to visit after all of the commotion wore off! She brought me a really cute Santa bag that I can't wait to use! I just love this picture of us :)
Kim always can put a smile on my face!
Change of shift again! Meredith passed the torch to Kristin, who I had general nursing orientation with when we started as new grads at Forsyth! Kristin is the night time leader for the unit. I got the big wig for a bit before she needed to go home and get some sleep for an early morning!
My ICU buddy, Jennifer McBride, came by to visit us too! Not only that, she brought us dinner tonight. Not just one homemade pizza, but two! So I have stuff for lunch tomorrow. Thanks Jennifer, it was delicious!!!
Wil brought in some Christmas spirit! We were getting ready to finish the infusion there!
FINIALLY! All done at 11 pm at night! One smile then time to get some sleep! Since I got double the dose of steroids, the PA ordered me some IV Ativan to help me get some sleep. I slept from about 11:45 pm until 4:30 am. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it was an improvement from the first inpatient stay.
Poor Wil's sleeping arrangements. I love him so very much and am so glad that I had him by my side the whole time.
The next morning, our PA saw us and cleared us to go home. I got a prescription for Ativan since I will have a tough time sleeping from all of the steroids. We were home around 10:30 this morning and were able to take a nap in our own bed. I called my boss, Susan, to tell her that I ended up having to spend the night. And what do you know, she was amazing again! I'm still planning on working this week but it is nice to know that my boss is on my side if I'm not feeling good!
Wil and I feel so truly blessed to be surrounded by family, friends, church, and amazing medical team! We only have two more inpatient rounds to go!
Love you honey - sorry you had to go through all of that. Can't wait to see you.
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