So, after multiple posts in the course of the day, a wrap up on the first infusion session. (Chemo is not over til Sunday afternoon, when calendula_witch and shelly_rae remove my takehome infusion pump.) Much of my confusion and mental wooziness has cleared, though I continue physically very flattened out.

When we first arrived and my needle was set in my chest port, the Nurse Practitioner trained calendula_witch and shelly_rae in how to unhook the pump, cleanse the port (saline and heparin injections) and then extract the needle. That was interesting.

Day was far less upsetting and disruptive than I expected. The last couple of hours were rather a journey into a mental fog, coupled with a sharp drop in my physical well-being. Mostly, though, it was boring; or would have been except for the presence of my loved ones and family. And the spoons.

More spoons came with tillyjane, collected from friends and family. Combined with the ones presented by shelly_rae, there must be forty or fifty. You guys are so awesome. That was hilariously funny. And some of the notes were quite touching. I have family heirlooms, historical and antique spoons, medically significant spoons, deeply humorous spoons. I'm still too stoned on chemo to do any kind of a job of thanking people by name, but I will try tomorrow if I can.

After we left, we swung by the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions. Trouble ensued, as TV Guide likes to say. Only the first of my five or six scrips from the chemo team had gone through. Multiple phone calls later, and some serious Heroism of the Revolution on the part of my pharmacist, and I headed home with a sack full of brightly colored pills.

Home now, we have a fridge full of food most generously delivered this week by newroticgirl and biomekanic. I will be on a very slow dose of 5FU until Sunday afternoon, so I am expecting to lay quite low these next two days, and be massively unproductive. It's like a vacation, except for confusion and nausea! Ok, it's like a drunken vacation! (I had one of those in New Orleans when I was in college.)

For now, I am going to mellow my way through the evening with calendula_witch and shelly_rae. Enjoy yours. I'll update tomorrow as energy and health permit.