Phase Two! Chemo Therapy

  I'm at Mayo in a "well-patient" room getting my first treatment of chemo therapy. This room, on the eighth floor, overlooks a pond with huge fountain which I can't see from the bed. What I can see looks like a forest, trees to the horizon, and the blue sky with slow-moving fluffy clouds. Very peaceful.
   I was here yesterday getting blood work and more boobies. Let me state for the record that I am eternally grateful to be living in this day of modern science! After the fiasco with the last blood draw, I was a little apprehensive, but the nurse used the port and viola' all went well. The secret is to put lidocaine on the port site an hour before the needle stick. Didn't feel a thing! The nurse offered to leave the needle in so I wouldn't have to have another stick today. She covered the site with a bandage, and I was ready to go. I barely noticed it last night.
   Jarret came in the room with me to learn about how chemo therapy will affect me, which ultimately will affect him. Yadda yadda nausea, yadda yadda hair loss, yadda yadda fatigue etc. His mom Cathy came with us. He didn't need to sit with me the entire time. That way they can have some mother/son time. :)
   Before I got the cancer drugs, they gave me Tylenol, and through the IV I got nausea meds, Benedryl, and some steroids. The first drug is Docetaxel, next is Carboplatin, and last is Trastuzumab (Herceptin.) Each drug is given separately and comes with its own set of side affects I won't go into. My understanding is that I won't have many side affects today; they get worse as treatments progress. Yippee.
   I also found out that I will probably have to come back to Mayo every Friday to get the Herceptin. The other drugs will be on the twenty-one day cycle. Oh, and I just found out I have to (get to :)) receive a shot of Neulasta possibly every two weeks on Saturday. This shot reduces my chances of contracting infections due to the collateral damage caused by the chemo therapy. 
   We definitely need wisdom in finding finances for medical bills and trips to Mayo. Since I have only ten sick days left, I am going to check into the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act.) It can guarantee job security, but the leave is unpaid. The quest begins!