Just the Beginning

Wed., Jan. 9th--It has been two days since Michael's first chemotherapy treatment and what an eye opening experience it has been. Before starting, I really had no idea what we were in for and what to expect. Honestly, I didn't even know how people got chemo until I asked Michael's doctor at one of his appointments. When we went in on Jan. 7th for Mikey's first treatment, he was his usual self. He was happy and I'm sure a little anxious as to what was going to happen. As you can see from the pictures from that visit (see end of first post) he was all smiles. Each visit after that has been more and more difficult. After getting chemo we drove back to his house, which can take a couple of hours. We didn't know how soon his body was going to react to the chemo. On the way home, we decided to drive through Green Burrito to get some dinner and just the smells of the food made Michael feel nauseous and he ended up throwing up! The reaction was definitely pretty quick. When he got home he was still feeling gross, but I don't think the full effect of the chemo had hit him yet. Since it was his first treatment he didn't have the build-up of chemo in his system that had been wearing him down. He was still in pretty good spirits and wanted to watch a movie so we watched Amazing Grace and I think he ended up sleeping through most of it. He had to take anti-nausea medicine because of the immediate side effects that chemo has and this medication makes him very sleepy! This is a good thing, though, since he doesn't feel well after getting the chemo. The next day he slept a lot and Marie and I would try to wake him up to eat and take his medicine. He doesn't like to eat, though, because it makes him feel nauseous. Each day after getting chemo seems to get better. By the third day, he was feeling a little better and wanted to get up out of bed and play Wii and watch movies in the family room. It is really hard to see Michael like this because he has always had so much energy and desire to be active. These are some pictures that I took of Mikey recovering after his first treatment. He really is a trooper and I'm amazed by him more and more each day.