New to this Camp

Charissa said:

Wow, after reading additional

Wow, after reading additional posts elsewhere, I may not like the cold-capping if chemo treatment takes between 5-8 hours. I am seriously so ignorant to all of this. I thought I would be in and out in a half hour or less. I can't ask my mom to stay with me for that duration of time. Yikes! I guess it's good I didn't put a deposit on the cold-capping yet. I will know all the details tomorrow. Thank you, to everyone, for all your time, wisdom, encouragment, and well wishes. My hope and desire is that we will all be here 5, 10, 15+ years helping others along their journey. Much love and hugs to all of you.

Yes, like Editgrl said, it does take awhile.  I am amazed that I hear this is not explained to people.  Even when I was getting my last chemo, the woman in the bed caddy-corner to me had no idea.  I was fortunate my chemo nurse told me in advance how long it would take.  In my case, and it may be different for others, it was 1 hour saline, 3 hours one type of chemo (I can't remember if it was carbo or taxol), 1 hour chemo and then 1 hour of saline again.  I did not have a port so it did matter how long it took to stick me every time, but 5 1/2 hours was average.  

I will tell you exactly what I said to the woman in the bed caddy-corner to me that day:  I know the end seems so far away but you will get there and you will amaze yourself. 

Soup52 said:

Yep, it has taken at least 5

Yep, it has taken at least 5 hrs each time and add to that the blood test before and then seeing the oncologist. That's how it works at my cancer center. I just plan for a day of it, but truthfully if you are lucky enough to have friends or family to come with you, the time goes fast. I always bring magazines and my iPad, but I hardly end up using them.

Soup, that's how it ended up for me as well.  It started out with me seeing my oncologist and getting the blood work a few days before, but when my counts were high enough before my appointment with her, we re-scheduled all of that for the morning of my chemo.  So, yeah, most of the time I was at the hospital most of the day.

EZLiving66 said:

My chemo with the port took

My chemo with the port took less than three hours but with the vein, about four.  I would be the last one to get there in the afternoon and the first one to leave.  I have no idea why it went so fast because I knew other ladies were there long before me.  

I bought four wigs, all different lengths.  The longest one was the most expensive and the most like my own hair before chemo.  I also like the lace caps the best although I always felt like the wig could fly off in the wind - LOL!!  I'm glad that I have an inch or so of curly fuzz so I don't have to wear it during the summer.  

Best of luck to you!!!

Love,

Eldri

Great picture Eldri. Your hair has grown a lot since the last one!