I start my chemo today. A small army of nurses traipsed into my room this morning a bit before 7am and I met the young woman who will be in charge of administering the various drug cocktails that will hopefully wipe all traces of the beast from my body. I’m once again feeling anxious, no doubt because of the horror stories I’ve heard about chemotherapy. I’m hungry too and I hope breakfast will get here soon.

I think I’ll research head scarves today. One of the nurses I spoke to yesterday asked whether I would be interested in wearing a wig. Ummm, no. Scratchy, sweaty, fake-looking… I don’t think so. I’d far rather sport the billiard ball look. I think Lauren’s actually looking forward to seeing me as Shaolin Mom.

I was given my first drug cocktail this afternoon at 3:15. The nurse started the IV drip slowly and then increased the dosage every 30 minutes. YIPE – I had a pretty strong reaction to it. Fever, wracking chills, rash… The nurses sprang into action, got the reaction under control, and dialed back the drugs, so now what was originally going to take six hours to administer fully will take all night.