Treatment Day 1 - with a twist!

 Well, day one is here.  Not knowing exactly what to expect and simply ready for this ball to get rolling, the morning was filled with some nervousness.  However, Gene was ready to face the tasks and do them with his usual smile and friendly disposition. Those of you who have talked to him much know that anytime you ask him, "How's it going?", he will always come back with "Not bad, I can't complain".  

The first stop was radiation, and they were busy.  We checked him in a few minutes early for his appointment, and they took him back at his scheduled time; however, he was back there for a while.  Then all of a sudden, the lights all went out, the overhead music went off, and the emergency lights came on.  I was a little unsettled to say the least.  Everyone in the waiting room just looked around at each other, and I think we all had the same crazy look on our faces.

Some of the techs came out from the back and asked if anyone knew what happened.  Then, several minutes later, and to my relief, here came Gene.  I thought for sure they had already performed his procedure, since he was back there over 45 minutes. Then he told me that they were so backed up, and down to one tech, so he had just got on the table and all ready for them to flip the switch, when the power failed.  According to him, they were playing rap music and that's what caused it....lol.  

So much for his first day of radiation.  They sent us on our way because he was already late for his scheduled chemotherapy appointment.  The nurse said that she called ahead to let them know he was being held up by the clinic and that he would be coming soon.  The radiation building is just down the street from Kaiser on Bruceville. Off we went to the Kaiser infusion center.  It was mixed feelings. He was so geared up for getting this all started, to have to be sent on the way.  But he rolled with it, and we went straight over to the infusion center.  

We discovered that the power had gone out at Kaiser as well.  By the time we arrived, they were back up and running.  That also meant that their systems were just booting back up, and things were moving kind of slowly.  Again, he just rolls with it.  

The nurses were super nice and made him feel very comfortable.  They went over all of the medicines, instructions for this week's treatment, and hooked up the tube to his port.  It was wild to watch.  Since his port was installed 10 days ago, and it's under the skin in his chest wall, you don't see an area to hook into.  The nurse just came up with a small device with a needle on it, and literally plugged him in, just like a phone charger.  

He settled in for the regimen of infusions, and then it was time to hook him up to his take-home bag.

He will wear this bag of medicine for the rest of the week, going back to the infusion center on Friday for them to unhook the empty bag.  

The biggest challenge is not kinking the tube and just being careful not to get it caught on anything.  He wears the little lemon, as they affectionately call it, 24/7 until Friday night. 

They had him eating ice chips nonstop when they were administering the first medicine.  They said it would help with the initial onset of mouth sores, which can become a big problem...something else to watch for.

Gene will have radiation every weekday for a few months.  Since he was not able to start today, tomorrow will be his first day for that part of his treatment.  I will let you know how it goes.

Funny side story...Gene told me that when the power failed at the radiation clinic, they had just gotten him in the necessary position, lined everything up, and were ready to go.  The table was up at the highest setting, so he was like 4' off the floor.  So, when the power failed, they couldn't move the bed down. They had to bring a ladder into the treatment room to get him off...lol. He asked, "Where's your backup generator?"  Knowing him, he probably had everyone laughing before they got him out of there!

Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement today!  Every message is a blessing.  The strength he and I feel from those texts and phone calls is huge.  Love you all in a big way!