1st day of chemo in the books...

Paul started receiving his first dose of chemotherapy last night about 10pm. There are a total of five different drugs that will make up his treatment. Already he is starting to experience the nausea associated with the chemo. He had no desire to eat before that, but coupled with the nausea it is even worse. Fruit and ice cream are about the only things that he can stomach. Paul was given a new lesson on how to care for his teeth last night also. He has to brush with a soft foam toothbrush and uses a special mouthwash. One of the medications he is taking may cause sores in his mouth and they don't want anything to aggravate that. There are many other side effects he is and will soon be experiencing that aren't very pleasant - but he is handling them so well right now. The nurses take his blood daily so he still has lots of bruising from all of the samples he has given in the last week. I will say Paul isn't known for his pain tolerance, but so far I am very proud of him. : )

Today we escaped his room and wandered the 5th floor. They encourage Paul to get out and walk around, but he has to wear a mask and gloves to guard against any germs. We also watched a couple of episodes of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. Other than that he napped most of the day. Tomorrow he has requested one of his favorite dvds - Lord of the Rings. I think I'll be napping during that one!