Chemoembolization Adventure #1

Friday, June 27 I had my first Chemoembolization at John C. Lincoln Deer Valley. The first thing that you do at the hospital is paperwork of course, that is after waiting for a while in the waiting room. So while getting signed up for this little adventure the woman doing the paperwork put my ID wristband on and told me that this was my pass for all the rides that were available, kind of like Disneyland. I asked if it even included the E ticket rides. She said absolutely.
Then I got to visit the vampires and they drew some blood to "run a rainbow" whatever that is, sounds very pleasant though. After a long wait I got assigned to my room, cubicle number four. Not really a room just a bed with curtains around it with neighbors on both sides. The neighbor on the right had her TV loud enough that I could watch mine on her channel and not need any volume. The neighbor on the left was having a pacemaker put in that day and I heard all of his history and his doctor's advice and the DVD they watched on pacemakers.
Meanwhile my adventure began with a costume change. I got to wear one of those gowns that when I walked down the hall to go to the bathroom I had to hold it in the back to make sure I wasn't Mooning the room. Then it was into the bed and hooked up to blood pressure and temperature, pulse and other kinds of machines. Then came the IVs, two. Both in the left-hand. I was told I was going to get a lot of drugs today. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti -nausea, Benadryl, some kind of dye to help with the procedure and then some kind of sleep aid. Then my first E ticket ride was to receive a catheter, something you could describe as a wet your pants experience.
There was a shift change for the nurses and the new nurse came in and wanted to put a red allergic band on my wrist and I asked her, "what was I was allergic to" she said, "you don't know what you're allergic to" and I said, "I'm not allergic to anything that I know of" and she checked the chart and gave me a little thrill when she said, "I have the wrong chart". Actually throughout the day she proved to be a fairly good nurse. She started administering all the drugs that I needed to get taken before surgery. Then the surgical nurse came and got me. My next ride was in the bed rolled through the hallways. We stopped in the hall outside of the x-ray surgery room. This is where Dr. Palstrant came and talked to us. He reviewed everything with us reminding us of the risks, one of which was that I could die, but he put it into perspective by saying you could tell me that I've might die on my way home from work tonight in a car accident. Keri asked if she could watch the procedure and was politely told no. They showed her to a waiting room. She was well prepared with her little suitcase on wheels that she had wheeled around with her food, her sewing and other projects.
I was pushed into the surgery room.The surgery table was a couple feet higher than the bed that I was in, they asked if I wanted a step stool to get up on the table, I just stood up, lifted by rear end and laid down, they were duly impressed. Then they start making adjustments for my height and not quite fitting the table. At this point there was lots of activity and I started getting very nervous. I was getting shaved where they were to do the incision not to gently by some gentleman named John. There was machinery being moved around people walking around doing various things, the nurse working on my arm and IVs to administer the drugs. It was a little cold and being nervous I started shaking all over and shivering. Then they started to give me something, it was more Benadryl or the beginning of the Benadryl. After one session of that I was a little bit calmer but still breathing heavy through my mouth being nervous. She gave me a second dose. I was much calmer but still awake and conscious. I remember the nurse telling Dr. Palstrant that I had two doses. He told her to give me another one of something I don't think it was Benadryl this time but he wanted me conscious enough to be able to hold my breath when he told me to. I don't remember the incision or the insertion of the catheter into the artery, glad I missed it. I do remember several times having to take a little breath and hold it, pause, okay breathe. It didn't seem to take that long and I heard him say okay we are finished.
Then came the next E ticket ride, the not too gentle John took the catheter or the tube that had been used to deliver the chemo out of my femoral artery. This is where there's blood, pressure points, pain from those pressure points and a constant wiping or swabing of the area. Thankfully I was still a little dopey, but not nearly enough. They finally put bandages over it, as it turns out very very sticky bandages. Then they put what they call a pressure bandage which went all way across my hips from one leg to the other, when I was all ready to go to recovery I got to be pulled and slid down a board onto the bed and pushed down the hallways again for my next ride. Then I was back in good ole cubicle number four. I was instructed not to move my leg and lay flat and not lift my head so that I wouldn't bleed. I really didn't want to bleed so I did as I was told. I slept the first hour or so, at least dozed in and out. Keri sat with me. She fed me lunch, not too bad for hospital food. We waited around for four hours. Finally got unplugged, dressed and got to go home. I was instructed to continue to lay flat, not to sit for long periods, not lift anything heavier than 10 pounds and to take it easy for the next 48 hours.
Other than tearing the hair off as I removed the sticky bandages I have felt fine, very little side effects, no pain. There is a little paranoia about bleeding, but no incidents. So my day at the amusement hospital was a success. I know that I'm wimpy and squeamish about the little things like needles and bleeding but maybe that keeps me from worrying about the tumors in my liver and the chemo that is necessary. The best part is we get to do it all over again on July 9. They did the right side of my liver this time and will do the left side next time.