Thanks for all the tips!! You were very thorough!! No more stress of the unknown . My fear/anxiety has gone down a notch!! Everything went well!!💕💪🏻

Whoops! thought of one more thing- I was given two Rx's for nausea. Go ahead and fill those ahead of time. I was told to try one, and when it came time to redose- if I was still nauseous to try the other, then stick with what works best. Bottom line, if you get the tummy flutters you don't want to be waiting around for the prescription to be filled, it is better to stay ahead of that side effect that to try to play catch up!
Hugs!

Tips:
-dress comfy, benedryl can make you sleepy- between that and the restless night before, I was out in no time, and missed the first couple hours- lol!
-pack things to keep you busy, your phone, charger, a few snacks, and your water bottle.
-I also brought my blanket, they had ones there, but I thought they smelled weird- and mine was a bit heavier and longer.
- i am a fan of Gin-Gin candies, real ginger is a natural tummy soother so I kept these, crackers, and ginger ale available. I like the hard ones more than the chewy ones as the chewy ones wanted to stick to some of my dental work.
-make sure you eat before you start. My go-to was scrambled eggs, it's a solid protein, but not heavy or greasy. Our center did not have meals available, just snacks. I would start chemo at 8 and usually finish between 3-4 pm. The steroids would make me hungry, so I would leave and go to Golden Corral buffet- lol!
-Keep drinking water, you want to swish those drugs around and out of your system, the times i slacked off on hydrating, were the times I did not bounce back as well.

For most of us, the experience of chemo ended up (thankfully!!) not being as bad as what we had imagined it would be, and after the first one is done, a lot of the fear/ anxiety is over as there is no longer the stress of the unknown. Keeping you in prayers that this is your experience as well.

I am looking forward to your post that says all went well, and that you are home resting and relaxing! Hugs!

Well, the first one is usually your longest session- just because they run everything slower so that your body has time to adjust and they are watching you closely for any signs of a reaction. So, for me, it went like this
-check in with office staff, to verify appt, name, insurance, etc.
-sit in waiting area
-tech comes to get you, takes weight, blood pressure, temp
-lab work if scheduled, if you have a port they will access that.
-time to find your comfy chair
-wait while pharmacy mixes your chemo cocktail (some of it is based on your weight that they just took, so this takes a little bit)
-the nurses will set up your iv, if you had labs with a port- you are still good to go, no extra sticks!!
-the iv starts with saline, just to make sure everything is working perfectly, then may be followed by benedryl and/or steroids. Reactions don't happen often, but having these in your system before the chemo is the way to go.
-you will probably also get some anti-nausea meds via IV
-they will run the saline as a flush between meds.
-then on to the main event, the chemo drugs.
-once those are done, they will flush everything a final time, unhook everything, and send you on your way.
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