You may be wondering, as was I, why I haven't received a chemo schedule and shared it yet. I was too miserable yesterday to call the cancer center and ask for an update. I did that this morning, and was told that my insurance has not yet said yea or nay. I'm going to tell myself it was just because this was a big holiday weekend, and people must have been letting paperwork linger on their desks while they planned their cookouts. Usually Tricare works quickly, but this one is taking a while. I asked the person from the cancer center whether I needed to call and nudge them along, or get this as a fresh referral from my primary care, like just about everything else I ever do through Tricare, but she said no, that actually makes things slow down when the patients get involved. I am glad I asked, because for one thing, I don't want it to take longer, and for another, I really didn't want to have to make the phone call (my least favorite adult responsibility, talking on the phone).
Once my insurance does allow treatment (geez, I hope soon, since I went and got the stupid port...), it should all start quickly. If approval comes back tomorrow, I will be in a chemo class by the beginning of next week. Infusions will start not long after, but I don't have an estimate of how soon is soon. I spent a solid hour this evening starting to make plans. I have been skimming through Pinterest to find what most people say they needed in their chemo bags, and tonight I made an exhaustive list. I will definitely need the giant beach bag I bought last year to carry it all. I could have predicted all the usual stuff--socks, blankets, snacks, and iPad. I am glad I did my research to know that people needed and relied on remedies like dry mouth rinse, hard candies, sleep masks, and lidocaine cream (ahead of time for the port site). I also didn't think about cash, in small bills, for vending machines.
I'll do a little shopping for comfort items, but most of this I already own. Heck, this might be an excuse to go through the hoard of hand lotions I've collected over the last two decades, enough to last me through the end of the world. I have no end to scarves, notebooks, pens, and crochet supplies to keep me warm and entertained. I might have to go purchase a set of headphones for the iPad, and fresh charging cords for that and my phone (they never last, especially when cats always knock them to the floor when they're plugged in).
For any of you who have gone through chemo, are there one or two things that you never could have made it through treatment without, and just as importantly, something you wish you hadn't bought or lugged to and from the infusion room with you? Also, while on my first outing since the port placement, I got myself a new scoop-necked t-shirt from Costco, assuming it would allow port access. As I carried the pretty periwinkle shirt to my dressing room, I wondered, is chemo messy? Do the drugs stain if they drip on your clothes, or do you tend to bleed at the puncture site? Should I wear cute new clothes that make me feel nice, or do I wear some of the dozens of cheap t-shirts I get from Target every year, the ones I go through like Kleenex, because I always manage to drop something greasy right in the middle of them, ruining them for use outside my garden?
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