Treatment Day One

I had my first round of Chemotherapy today. I was very nervous going there. I just had no idea what to expect. I received treatment at Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, and their new treatment facility is amazing. It's comfortable and open and inviting, and it has an amazing view of the ocean! My nurse, Chris, was wonderful. She went over everything in detail and made me as comfortable as possible. The first three medicines when in fine, no discomfort. The last medicine (the D in the ABVD regimen that I'm on) went in kind of rough. She started slow, and it seemed ok, so she bumped it up a bit, but my vein got really sore so she had to slow it down quite a bit. It just meant I had to be there for a bit longer. She recommended that I try and get a port put in my chest to make treatments quicker and easier. I will be calling my oncologist on Tuesday to see when the best time would be for me to have it done. I think it's a good idea. I don't like being stuck with needles anyway, and it would mean that I could have my hands a bit more free to do some knitting and crocheting while I'm there for my treatments. 
One thing that surprised me the most was how many medicines I have to take just to ward off the side effects. I think there are 4 different pills and one drink (not including the birth control) that I have to take every day for the first few days after my treatment. I'm hoping that by taking them all this round, I can figure out which ones are helping the best and which ones I can take less of and still avoid the side effects. 
The next couple of days are supposed to be the worst for side effects, so Chris advised me to get a little help with the baby and to take it easy; plus one of the meds will make me feel just sort of relaxed and not wanting to move much. With a cruising 8 and a half month old, that won't fly. So my parents are on duty this weekend. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll be lucky and manage to stave off some of the side effects. There's always hoping.