So how did chemo go?

Amidst all the activity of the last couple of days, I realize that I haven't shared one shred of information about my eighth round of chemo. So here it goes:

I got up early on Thursday morning after too few hours of sleep, excited to get the show on the road. Got my blood drawn without too much trouble (although I do have a little bruise at the needle site now), and was soon hanging out with Dr. Lenz. We went over my scan results, discussed all the potential complications I wasn't experiencing (heart palpitations, blood in stool or urine, etc), and exchanged a big hug before I skipped off to the day hospital.

Chemo started off fine -- I was in great hands with my favorite nurse, Erlinda, and was soon enjoying a Benadryl-induced nap.

And then, I started to wake up. And my ears itched. And I started to feel really REALLY hot. I sat up and looked at my mom, and clearly I didn't look right. Erlinda stopped the chemo immediately and gave me another dose of Benadryl. I drowsily walked to the bathroom with my mom and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Red, red, red. Cheeks, forehead, neck. Even my eyes were bloodshot. And my nose was congested. I was having a reaction to the oxaliplatin.

I remained calm because what else was I supposed to do, and soon, the redness went away and I was feeling fine. Benadryl, a soothing visit from Dr. Lenz (who said this was a pretty normal reaction), and a slower infusion rate was all I needed to get the drugs in my body without incident.

I got detached from my bag 'o chemo yesterday morning and I'm currently handling the chemo side effects without too much trouble. Yesterday, I was a little headachy and had absolutely no appetite. Today, I'm feeling much better and I'm eating a lot more. I feel almost completely normal, as if i hadn't had any chemo at all. One day of side effects, which don't include nausea or fatigue? I'll take it.

So Round 8 of chemo is in the books. One post-op treatment done. Five to go. I can see the finish line from here.