Chemo day Aug 28-13 (Scott)

Today I went for chemo, number 6 of the maintenance plan, number 14ish overall. Usually my wife takes me, but this time my sister did. We had a nice time catching up with each other. Chemo started at 9:20am.

I got there and was quickly invited into the "Chemo suit". They try to give it a positive spin with this name. It was very busy today. The patients were mostly older with a sprinkling of younger ones. My heart goes out to each one as I am now somewhat aware of how this could be impacting all areas of there lives. Perhaps the youngest one there (maybe 20) wonders if he will live a full life, get married, have children........... perhaps the older ones wonder if they will see there grand children..........
Chemo is a poison administered to kill a poison (cancer). It is strong stuff that can have many side effects. After my dose today I felt drowsy and as my son says, I looked yellow. With the docs permission my kids came in to visit me briefly before my wife drove us home. It gave them a glimpse of what treatment is and I think reduced the scariness label a bit. Due to the illnesses my wife and I have had, seeing IV bags, etc., hooked to us is old hat for our kids. We have tried to be open with them as opposed to shield them. While this may seem over the top, I think that it is ok to be real and open with kids in a way that they can understand it. We certainly would not have proceeded if the doctors had cautioned us in anyway. In a recent chat with my son, he admitted to being very scared when he 1st found out I had cancer. In his words he said, "I didn't know you could live with cancer". Perhaps being there today and seeing that the people there are quite normal looking and seeing what I go through for a treatment instead of imagining it will help calm our kids inquisitive minds.

For the most part it has been a good first day after treatment

Giving thanks, a Christian learning to be thankful and trusting in all things