Chemo is Boring, and so are Swordfish.

We learned something yesterday...

Chemo is boring.

Boring, however, is not that important when you consider its effectiveness. :)

Zach had his first round of chemo yesterday and things went very smoothly. For those of you who are not familiar with the process, chemotherapy consists of several medications that are administered through an IV drip that is connected to Zach's port. The medications are given one at a time, two of them being very quick and two that drip for hours...they're not painful and Zach said he couldn't feel them at all. All in all, it's pretty "vanilla" as far as medical procedures go- the only slightly exciting thing about chemo is that it temporarily turns your urine red....which I find incredibly amusing and Zach shrugged off as if it were completely normal. Go figure. I guess he's probably seen weirder things at work!

The day was a long one...we arrived at the oncology center at 9:30 in the morning and left just before 5, right when the nurses were leaving for the evening. So if you're wondering what we did for almost 8 hours, I'm going to tell you: we read magazines, chatted with the nurses, spent some time on our iPods, and then Zach watched a variation of "Deadliest Catch" involving swordfish fishing...for a good 5 hours. 5 hours. Not quite as dramatic as the medical procedures shown on Grey's Anatomy, is it?

Post-chemo hasn't been too bad so far...Zach has experienced some nausea and tiredness but for the most part he has been able to go about his day without feeling hindered. It helps that his parents came for a visit this weekend- it's been a welcome distraction and huge comfort to have family here with us. Wii games, shopping, restaurants, and chatter are so much better than 5 hours of swordfish fishing on TV!

Zach's next appointment is 3 weeks from now, but I promise I'll write another post or two before then so that everyone knows how he's doing.

***Other info to note:

***Apparently chemo does not cure cravings for Qdoba...it only makes them worse.

***We've added a Snuggie to our arsenal of cold weather accessories: sock hats, an electric blanket, and house slippers. Hopefully chemo doesn't cause hot flashes and sweating or we'll be completely unprepared. I guess he could always go lay in the snow for a while...

***We're not supposed to use our cell phones in the hospital during his chemo sessions, so if you message us and we don't answer please don't assume that something is wrong or that we don't think you're cool anymore. You're always cool...er, well...we think so anyway.

***THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who have sent Zach "Get Well" cards and sent me cards of support. Thanks for the goodies, the care packages, the messages, and the cherry red BMW convertibles. (Okay, so that last one was just to see if you were paying attention...you got me.)

Thanks again for your love, concern, and prayers. You guys rock. ;)

-Kristin