September 22, 2003

Today was the first day in my chemotherapy journey. Today I got my catheter. There were several choices for catheters, and my doctor recommended a Groshong catheter. It’s inserted into the jugular vein, just above the collar bone, and then the other end of it is tunneled under the skin, where it exits in my chest. The surgical procedure took only about 30 minutes, and I was awake during the whole thing; however, the drugs they gave me put me in “la-la land!” whoo-hoo! I was aware of some tugging and pulling, but I couldn’t really feel much, and I didn’t remember a whole lot when it was over. When they brought me out of la-la land, I awoke to a tube coming out of my chest. There was a plastic anchor (for lack of a better term) sutured to my chest. This held the catheter in place. I was bandaged up, so I couldn’t really see what they had done.

I was told I couldn’t use my hot tub for the next 6 months (or however long the catheter is in place). Also, whenever I take a shower, I must tape Saran Wrap to my chest and cover the catheter. Even though it’s taped up, I still need to wrap it in plastic….every day. Won’t this be fun!

On the way home, I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my anti-nausea drugs. Woah!!! Kytril, one of the drugs, costs $770 for 20 pills – yikes!!! Luckily, my insurance covers most of it, and I only had to pay $23. Whew!