Let the chemo begin but first ....

 This blog is a vent.

If you listen closely, you will hear the echoes of me screaming in complete frustration. Another medical test and yet another test no one warned me about.

I’m not talking people I know, I am talking medical professionals.

I had to get a CT scan of my abdomen which completes my body scan.

If you ever have to get a CT of your abdomen with contrast, be forewarned.

No one said anything.

It wasn’t in the details section of my chart.

No mention of ‘get there an hour before your appoint to prep for hell’

Nor did Lynette warn me.

Who is Lynette.

The miserable receptionist that said to me, “You’re having contrast, I’ll get your drinks.”

Wait. What?

“Lemon, Orange or tea flavored,” she asked.

She wasn’t talking coolers.

I chose tea and I’ll never drink McDonald’s Sweet tea or any other sweet tea again.

I knew when she slid open that window she wasn’t there to brighten my day. I knew when I handed her back the information sheet and asked, “I don’t know what this means.” And she replied, “Neither do I.”

Window slam.

I was in trouble.

After she puts the bracelet on me, she brings out two LARGE Styrofoam cups and tells me I have one hour to drink both.

They were huge. A total of forty ounces. When she handed it to me, you would have thought it would be nice for her to say, “Hey by the way in a couple hours, you’re going to have horrible gastrointestinal issues.”

Or.

Even if not Lynette, how about the chick that did my IV. I bitched to her about how bad the drink was.

She could have said something.

Back up. Why did I have to get an IV in my arm when I went through all that to get a port?

Or the CT scan ladies. Who also put that warm weird stuff in my IV.

I was miserable.

It was a miserable day. I have that inflamed and painful lymph node under my arm and holding my arms above my head for fifteen minutes was torturous. For both the lymph node and port side.

No one. No one said a word about the ‘After’.

About ten minutes from home, I started feeling queasy.

I ate a cracker.

Despite the fact I drank a ton of water to flush my system, it still hit me like a ton of bricks.

I thought something was wrong with me, that I was having a bad reaction, so, I did what anyone would do. I Googled and sure enough, thread after thread about it. It’s normal. Some folks were told to take the rest of the day off, some, like me, blindsided.

Finally by seven and after a long nap, I felt better.

It was a scan, a freaking scan. I will take the loud noise of the MRI any day over this.

Dude, why would they schedule something like this the day before Chemo?

When I go in tomorrow and have my doctor’s visit, I am going to tell them about this. And I’ll tell them to let people know it is not a pleasant experience.

I’m pissed because I have Chemo and know my feeling good days will be slim and they took the one day away from me when I was able to feel good and do things.

And didn’t tell me it would suck.

I’m getting ready for tomorrow. I got a large wonton soup for tomorrow and made sandwiches for nibbling and small meals.

It is going to be a long day for the first infusion. They have to monitor me before they send me home.

There was a bright spot to my day. A friend had sent two boxes of stuff for me. I loved it. And I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. I am going to try to write on my phone while getting treatment. Not sure how that will go.

Thanks for letting me vent.

**UPDATE** just say my scan results. No new cancer in the abdomen or lower region. Another win!