Fast forward to the morning of May 12, 2014. We have had several days to try and mentally prepare for this day. But how do you prepare yourselves for the thought of basically having poison pumped into your wife’s body through an IV. Granted, this so-called poison named chemo was meant to help eliminate cancer from her body. Still, you just have no idea how a person’s body is going to react to such harsh drugs. In fact, it was, for this reason, that for a couple of weeks prior to beginning treatment, Michelle’s family had been trying to talk us into staying outside of their house in an RV. This was so that they could help care for her during the first week after going through chemo.
As much as I did not want to admit it, I understood their concerns. I have relied heavily upon Michelle for a few years now for my own daily care. So how in the world were we going the manage the rigorous weeks of treatments? Call it being hard-headed or what have you, we decided that we would somehow manage to care for each other at home. Michelle did have the right idea. Your body tends to respond best in a familiar environment. Anyway, here we are, we just arrived at the treatment center to begin the most difficult portion of our journey.
We said a little prayer before we even got out of the car and hugged and kissed. We then entered the treatment facility and walked into a room full of recliners for the patients and cushioned benches for family members. We talked with the nurse about the details of the treatment and what to expect. Michelle was to have three different types of chemo medication. Two of which would be administered through IV, And one, called “Red Devil” would be administered using a syringe.
It was during a future treatment that I learned why the red devil was administered differently from the other two. And to be honest, had I known the reason from the beginning, I might have had a panic attack right then and there! It is because this blood-red drug is so potent, if it we to get outside of the veins, it can cause serious injury to muscle tissue around the area. So as I watch the nurse hook up two bags of nausea medication before they even begin the chemo drugs,
I do my best to talk with Michelle about happier times, getting on a plane to Vegas, future vacations, etc. I had purposely done this not only for her benefit but also for my own. You do anything you can in these types of situations to just try and relax. But the truth is, the muscles in my body were wound so tight that any wrong move and my body could have launched through the ceiling. OK, maybe not, but it sure felt as if that could have happened!
It might sound weird, but after the second bag of medication that had slowly dripped into Michelle’s body, I felt my own body begin to relax. I am sure it was because of the fact that I knew Michelle was alright. Her body was reacting normally and had no adverse indications. Albeit, she did have minor reactions to the second chemo drug. It gave her a headache and a burning sensation in her nose. She said it was the equivalent of going swimming and getting the pool water up your nose. Not a pleasant experience, I’m sure. After approximately three hours, it was over and time to take my sweetheart home. Although fairly exhausted and weak, Michelle had handled this day really well.