Angela had her first chemo treatment today at NIH.
We arrived at 7:30am, and after waiting 2 hours, the doctors installed a "line" This line is used to install a the drugs required to KILL the tumor. Normally, this type of line used is a PICC line. Which runs from the elbow joint to just above the heart. However, due to the size and location of the tumor, the doctor had to install a Internal Jugular (IJ) line. With her extreme fear of needles they gave her a sedative that put her in another universe.
Around 11:30am we began the actually chemo treatment. This was a long process (5 hours) of IV treatment under constant medical supervision. Of course, since she was still in outer space somewhere, she slept during the whole thing!
While Angela was busy getting healed, the nurses didn't forget about me. Oh no, I got all kinds of "parting gifts". Since, I have to give Angela a shot EVERY day, I was granted the opportunity to watch a 10 minute film on the finer points of injecting medicine via a needle. Somehow, that makes me an expert. Then I was instructed how to diagnose and repair this pump device that is a critical part of pushing the drugs into her body. Man, is it getting hot in here? This is a ton of pressure!
But on a more serious note, this is not about me...rather Angela! Seriously, she did great today. It was a LONG, 11 hour day, where she was stuck, poked, and jammed with enough toxic chemicals to light up NYC on New Years Eve. As for me, I could only hope that I would be that strong during such difficult times. However, if you are in need for a bio-hazardous spill kit, I can hook you up...as for Angela, well I am still awaiting her to land on this planet again.
/Michael
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