The Chemo Has Begun
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Today was my first day of chemo. There was a massive delay as someone forgot to put my name in the queue for lab work, which come first. They've always been fast on the lab work, so I was concerned. I finally flagged down a phlebotomist and told her how long I'd been waiting. She did everything but impale herself on the dinner knife to get me in next and get my blood work done.
But this meant a longer wait to talk to the doctor, and another wait to get chemo started. The doctor went over everything and also set up my appointments for the next six weeks. He said the slots fill up fast (I believe it! Every chair in the chemo room was occupied. There were at least 20.)
They finally got me in about an hour and a half later than my appointment time. That did give me time to go to their pharmacy and get some pills that I'll be taking this week, plus some for next week if I need 'em. Three of the four meds are for nausea, one of which I start tonight. It's a schizophrenia drug being prescribed off-label. Turns out it's really good for chemo-related nausea.
The first hour and a half was saline and a steroid. I also accepted an anti-anxiety drug, as the lab mixup and delays had sent my BP through the roof. I don't think I'll need them going forward, but they're there if I do. Then came an infusion of two of the three chemo drugs, which ran about two hours.
Next I got the home version of the game: a chemo ball containing the rudely-named 5-FU. I'll link to a picture of the product below. It's a ball about 4" from plastic tip to plastic tip, and about 7" in diameter. And you're thinking what I'm thinking, Brain! If someone happened to have a port in each side of their chest, the jokes would just write themselves! Here's what it looks like.
The ball came with a cheap, institutional shoulder/belt bag. I'll be wearing it around the house, but I wanted something a little nicer to wear out. After some digging around, I found a belt bag designed for a kilt that I had purchased at WorldCon back in 2022. It holds the ball with a little room to spare! It just needed a little bit of TLC, which I have administered. I may bling it up a bit, because why not?
I wish I had the time/spoons/skills to put together a costume around my chemo ball.
Oh, wait. I'm not getting chemo that week. Darn
Filed under: Life Chemo Cancer Sucks
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