Just starting Chemo at the end of the month.

Hi there Unicornkisses. I receive my chemo at Royal North Shore and have completed 12 weeks of AC and am now finished 4 weeks of the second 12 week cycle of Paclitaxol and Herceptin. After arriving and checking in, I'm taken to my chair (Lazyboy type), where I unload all my crap. (Knitting, Kindle, cold drink, chippies and sucking lollies). I also take along my fluffy feet as I get very cold toes. I'm then weighed and return to my chair along with a cup of tea which I make for myself at the beverage bay. I take my own Dilmah teabags...life is too short to drink crappy tea! Your nurse for the day will then ask your twenty questions, such as any problems, mouth ulcers, how are your bowels, and other such charming topics. Also temp, pulse and blood pressure are taken. I get to take tablets one hour before my appointment, and are also given others half an hour before treatment by the nurse. They differ according to your needs. As I have a portacath, the nurses don't have to play "Hunt the Vein" and a saline drip is soon up and running. When the chemo bags are delivered by the pharmacy, they are connected. The time taken to run them through depends on what drugs you're getting, and how you're responding to them. If you start feeling a bit off, they will probably slow it down. The nurses check on you regularly, so if you have concerns, just speak up. I am not able to take a photo of my portacath as I'm a total fool when it comes to technical stuff, but if you google "Portacath" and then click of "Images" you will find plenty there. Mine was put in under a local anaesthetic on the morning of my first AC chemo session. Fun..fun..fun!!. I didn't have to ask for it, the doctors said it was very necessary as I have scleroderms, and so my skin is very tough and my veins are shot. This is due to me having been on Warfarin for 17 years before the BC diagnosis, and so having my blood checked at least every two weeks, if not more often if things were out of whack. Result....very scarred veins. I've found the port to be very easy and less traumatic that the usual drip procedure. It took about two weeks for it to stop feeling strange, but now I'm used to it.