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Another week, another chemo.

But before I had chemo, Katherine came home for a visit. It was really nice to see her and spend time with her. We went shopping, she cooked and we just generally spent time together. (She also got to see her other Indy friends and Butler people.) The five of us even went to church together, though it id take three cars. It was a good time all around.

Aren't we pretty?

This week was my second chemo treatment. It was another very long day, though for different reasons this time around.

We (me, Mom and our friend Wendy) had to be at IU Hospital at 7 on Wednesday. (I really dislike mornings, especially when it isn't for something fun.) We were at IU Hospital for my surgery to have a port "installed". A port is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn may times, usually with less discomfort and difficulty than a regular needle stick. The surgery wasn't bad, from my point of view anyway- you will have to ask Mom how it was in the waiting area. They used conscious sedation but I am pretty sure I fell asleep, though there is also an amnesia drug used as well. In recovery I learned that I don't take even conscious sedation well and I felt sick to my stomach for longer than anticipated but everything stayed down (not that there was anything to come up since I hadn't eaten for about 12 hours). Then came lunch (happy time! contrary to popular belief, I like food).

We walked over to the IUPUI Student Center to eat in the food court. I had fried ravioli and some french fries, it was all very yummy. We ran into Dad, he was doing a story on something and shooting it in the student center.

Then we went to the IU Cancer Center for chemo. They took a blood sample through the port and we waited for the results. The results and drugs arrived around 3, by which time Dad had gotten off work and joined us. The administration of the drugs went quickly and without problem.

Check out the sign Dad made for the car 

and the awesome shoes my cousin Kristen made 

(completely cover in glitter- inside and out).

Not the most flattering shot but you can't always looks amazing.

Mom, Dad and I came home. I slept, they ate and then I woke up and ate.

All in all this treatment went better than the first and the first went well to begin with. Thursday and Friday I slept less than I had before, I'm not sure if I was less tired or if I was less motivated to sleep. I've been running errands with Mom, cleaning my room (I know, I know, you thought that never happened, however, it is an ongoing process) and being social. The port and the incisions from the installation are quite uncomfortable. I am getting tired of wearing button-up shirts, I can't really lift my arms to put on a pull over shirt. My ribs don't hurt as much which is very nice but I am still having some back pain. Given the problems I could be having, I don't have anything to complain about.

I don't have chemo again until Dec 5, nearly three weeks. There will probably be an update before then. In the time between I am looking forward to a hair cut (not a shave, but something fun and different and shorter), Thanksgiving, a week of doing whatever I want and another Purple Party (there are still spaces available, let me know asap if you are interested).

Purple People

As many of you know, early on I made the decision to have fun with the possibility of hair loss as a result of my chemo treatment. Stage One of this part of the adventure was to dye my hair purple. Other people have joined in and gotten purple stripes to show support. Tuesday evening Mom, Kim and I went to Broad Ripple Hair Design (http://broadripplehair.com/home/). There ended up being 11 of us for a little purple party, 5 of whom left with purple stripes.

First- What I looked like in the beginning

Then I got a trim and style

And then we started bleaching

I spent a lovely time under the dryer

It was a great color

Everyone really liked it but Will, the owner, decided he could make me a better blonde another time.

Then we added purple

Of course, I couldn't see any of this part.

And then it was purple!

It doesn't photograph perfectly.

It is really bright and shiny, and very purple.

My Uncle sprayed his beard (temporary)

Sandy got a stripe

My Aunt did her swoosh

Emily, Kim and Mom got a stripe but had to be bleached first

Group shot!

(arriving soon)

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported me Tuesday night. An amazing thank you to Broad Ripple Hair Design for the amazing hair, amazing stripes and great people.

I'm sure you were wondering

I turned 21!
I drank some alcohol!
I survived chemo!

It has been a bit since my last post but I will get to that.

On Sunday, my amazing parents put together a last minute birthday party. Family and a few friends came over for food, fun, presents and cake. It was lots of fun to see everyone and reassure them that I am still regular smarty-pants happy Kelsey and doing well.

Monday was a busy day with a birthday breakfast with a friend, a trip to BR to see my previous teachers, birthday lunch out and then a trip to the dentist and a bit of birthday shopping (yay birthday coupons!). Mom, Dad and I sat down to a yummy dinner of leftovers (I picked leftovers for dinner and  did have a drink, Smirnoff Ice Green Apple Bite). I then put on my giant witch's hat and handed out candy to the "neighborhood kids". This is in quotes because many of our Halloween visitors are not from my neighborhood and quite a few are not kids but it is the nature of the holiday in Indianapolis. I also began to tackle to stack of birthday cards I received from Fairview members- I got around 40 birthday cards not to mention around 20 prayer cards. Thank you to all who sent them.

Tuesday night I went out for birthday drinks with a set of parents that I babysit for. We went to Northside Social, it was a lot of fun and a nice place and the drinks were good,

Wednesday was...fun. We arrived at the IU Cancer Center just before 9:30 for chemo. Jennifer, my doctor's assistant, met with us to start going through some educational information about treatment that day and for the next couple of months. We went back to the treatment area and had a "public" pod, I had to be near the nurses' station since it was my first treatment. I had a nice recliner to sit in while Mom and our friend Debra had regular chairs. Jennifer stayed with us for awhile longer and the nurse tried to get me ready for treatment. I have small deep veins so it was difficult to get a good one and I ended up being stuck twice. I received the pretreatment drugs without a problem but the nurse couldn't get a proper blood return so we added heat packs to my arm and moved it around a bit until the blood started flowing. Then the actual chemo drugs started. The first was a "push" (it's in a syringe that the nurse empties into the iv). Then came two drugs in 10 minute drips from the bag. Again the nurse couldn't get a blood return so we did heat packs again, flushed the iv a few times and moved my arm around a bit. The fourth drug burned going in so the nurse stopped it, flushed the iv and she started to change to flow speed and proportion of drug and saline. The burning went away and what was originally supposed to be a 30 minute drip became an hour. For this entire hour, my arm was wrapped with two heat pack and propped up on a pillow. During this entire...thing, I had planned on reading trashy magazines of my Mom's Kindle but the Art Cart rolled by and have you ever known me to pass up an opportunity for crafts. Nope. I attempted to make two mosaics, a plaque and a little box but once we started the fourth drug I couldn't use my left arm anymore and didn't finish either mosaic. Luckily the art lady let me take the raw materials home so that I could finish them later, now to remember where I put them...Anyway, finally by 2:30 we left the cancer center. I felt fine but was tired so I slept for the rest of the afternoon and woke up for dinner.

Thursday and Friday were days of rest. I slept a lot. A lot. Fortunately I didn't really have any other symptoms. There may have been some nausea but the meds took care of that. I did go out with Mom Friday morning to run some errands but that was to get out of the house and then I came home and went back to bed. Sleeping is the reason I haven't updated you since last week, but I think you can handle it.

Saturday was a more active day. I went over the 46th and Illinois to watch my friend run past in the Monumental Marathon in the morning before going out to lunch and a movie with friends. We saw Anonymous and I enjoyed it but I have a strong appreciation for suspension of disbelief. I enjoyed the theory but I don't believe it, it would be interesting of it were true but I think all of my English/ literature teachers and friends would disown me if I gave the theory credence. I also babysat Saturday night but was quite happy to come home and go to bed at the end of the day.

Today is more quiet. I went to church with Mom and Kim. There were quite a few people wearing purple- coincidence, I don't think so. It was really nice to see everyone and I didn't feel overwhelmed, and I didn't have to say the same thing over and over again about what is going on so that was cool. Now I am chilaxing at home with Mom, but I think another nap might be in order. Might as well milk it while I can, right?

Tuesday in purple hair day- get excited! If you are interested in a salon purple stripe in your hair, there is a purple party December 4- email or comment for more information.

Me, sittin in my chair, getting my last drug, sorting tiles to make a mosaic.