IT'S GO TIME!

August 2, 2024, a day that I will forever remember, as the day I started Chemo.

Our morning started early. We had to be at the surgery center at 6:30am for the port placement. My experience there was wonderful from start to finish. I was expecting to be super nervous and anxious, but honestly I was quiet the opposite. I felt a sense of peace like never before. I was so thankful for that. I had prayed and prayed that I would be calm. I usually like to be in control of things, so all the unknowns of what to expect for that day seemed so foreign to me. I know the Lord heard my prayers. I didn't even shed a tear that day. I don't remember a whole lot about what went on at the surgery center other than the IV getting placed. Austin said I wasn't in surgery long at all. When I think of a port going into your vein, seems difficult, but to the doctors I guess it's a pretty simple procedure. I handled the anesthesia well, so I was thankful for that too. We were in and out of surgery and over to the oncology center in plenty of time for my treatment.

I expected to be emotional honestly, super scared and maybe even shaking. BUT GOD!!!! God has the perfect angels on earth working at this place. They are so nice, patient and the most loving genuine people you will ever meet. I was never once scared. Everything just started happening so fast. They started giving me the pre drugs you get before chemo and next thing I knew she gave me a cup of ice chips to eat while the RED DEVIL drug went in. Honestly, in my mind I had prepared myself to be bored, maybe want to blog, color an adult coloring book etc, but there was no time for none of that.

I decided I wanted to try Cold Capping. I never knew about this until I was diagnosed. So for those of you that don't know what Cold Cap Therapy is, I want to share. Cold Cap Therapy is a drug-free and noninvasive technique of scalp cooling which uses specially designed caps to cool your scalp in order to minimize chemical-induced hair loss. It basically works by cooling the scalp which in turn constricts the blood vessels and minimizes the metabolic activity at the root of the hair into a near hibernated state. These two things reduce the harmful chemicals by the hair root, minimizing hair loss. After doing some research and talking to my doctor and several friends that new people, who cold caped I decided I wanted to give it a try. There are several different companies and name brands out there but after talking to several people I decided to go with Penguin Cold Caps. Let's just be real, when I heard the words come from my doctor that I would have to have chemo, my hair is the first thing that came to mind. Most women would, let's just be honest. We take pride in our appearance. So once I heard about cold capping, I had a little sense of relief. Penguin Cold cappers are known to save anywhere from 75-85% of their hair. Some just have heavy shedding days. Obviously, it varies depending on what drugs you are taking, how powerful they are and etc. To me though, a chance at saving some of my hair was worth the try and I wanted to give it a go. Cold Capping is not yet been approved by most insurances, so it's something you have to do on your own. We decided to rent ours instead of buying it to see how it would work and if I could withstand the pain. I was warned by several patients that it would be brutal at times. So basically the cold cap system is a large cooler, 3 cold caps, some bands and you have to get dry ice for it the night before chemo or first thing the day of chemo, to cool the caps. The monthly rental alone on these things are over $400.00 than add 50-60lbs of dry ice being $100.00 each treatment, it becomes quiet costly. Regardless, I knew I had to give it a try. In a weird way, I felt like if I could keep some of my hair my kids wouldn't worry or realize just how sick I was. I wanted to mask them from that pain if I could.

So let's get down to the cold capping business. SHEW is all I can say!! It was very intense. My husband was a ROCKSTAR! Cold Capping is a very intense process. The caps have to be anywhere from NEGATIVE 27-33 degrees when going on my head. It has to be put on 1 hour before treatment (Changing it every 20-25 mins, because they cool down), wear it the whole time during treatment 2.5-3hrs, and then 5 hours after treatment. So basically on chemo days I will have to wear them for about 8-9 hours total. The cold wasn't as bad as I prepared myself for, but the weight of those things and how tight it has to be to your head was the worst part about it, to me. Austin would have to set a timer and change it out every 25 mins it was was a full blown out JOB!!! He even had to stop 2 times coming home to change it. The last 3 hours to me were the worst. My neck just became so sore and my temples. We pushed thru and made it though. So I say all that to say, I had no time for tears or to worry about what was going thru me because we were in a constant change the whole time it seemed. I will keep you updated along the way on how Cold Capping works for me so you can be sure to pass it along to others you may know going thru this. I felt like treatment went by fast, just the remainder of the day went slow. So overall my first treatment experience went well at the facility and I give God all the praise.

Day 2- Saturday, I still felt like my normal self. The twins were playing in a ball tournament in Benson, so I got up turned the water on to get a shower and Austin quickly had to remind me I couldn't do that yet. LOL.. I was just in normal routine mode. I stayed at the ball field from 8:30-4:00. Austin could tell I was starting to get tired, so around 2:30 in-between games he had me go to the car to get a quick nap and to cool off. I did, and I was able to finish see their last game of the day. I was so THANKFUL to have a normal day. I was really prepared to have to leave and not be able to take the heat but with the fans, I was good to go.

Day 3- Sunday, I got up to get ready for church, felt pretty normal but by the time I was dressed and ready to go I felt like I was shaky and could barely make a few steps at the time. I decided to go on to church, because I owe him all my praise!!! I made it thru Sunday school and church, and came home and rested most of the afternoon. Overall, I am just so thankful I have not been sick and have had a few normal days. I know there is going to be bad, but I want to enjoy the good ones when I have them. My appetite is still good as well so far. So still trying to eat all I can, when I can. So for now that's all I got for this blog update.

Prayer Request- I go tomorrow to get a booster shot, meet with the doctor and check bloodwork. Pray that my levels are holding strong and I do well with the shot. Pray that I can learn how to be OK with needing rest. I'm always on the go, so I'm struggling with slowing down because I don't want to miss out on ANYTHING!! Just keep me in your prayers as we continue this journey.

Prayer of Thanksgiving- Austin and I were able to go on a cruise 22-26th and it was AWESOME. We were able to get away and not think about anything "C" related while we were gone. We came back refresh and ready to fight.

Thank you for continuing to follow me on this journey. #TEAMPINK4BRITT