"I wear PINK for Sara"

Today is the first day of chemo.  I am getting Adriamycin and Cytoxan every 2 weeks for 4 cycles (8weeks total) and then I will have Taxol after that.  I walked in our office this morning and checked in at the front desk like any other patient.  I saw several of the staff had on the same shirt but just thought it was some kind of "wear the same shirt day" or something. Then I looked closer.  Every single person in the office was wearing the same shirt. They said "I wear PINK for Sara." It brought tears to my eyes (but dont tell anyone. I dont want to get a reputation as a softie.)  I was asked if I wanted to wait in an exam room instead of sit in the lobby. No, I want to be like the rest of the patients. Im hanging out here with them. While I waited I had some great conversation with several of my patients that I would have missed by sitting in an exam room all by myself. I had my lab and then went to my treatment room.  I was greeted by my nurse, Paula (who is my boss!)  Its not everyday that you are given your first treatment by your boss!  I feel special that she came to our office today just for me. Or at least I tell myself it was just for me. She told me what things I could do at home to prepare for the misery that I call nausea and gave me my handy dandy new patient packet that is full of all kinds of useful information (that none of our patients ever seem to read.)
My plan had been to get my first treatment in the treatment room and every treament after that I wanted to get at my desk, which is right up the hall.  But, during my first day today I was in a room with an older lady who had metastatic breast cancer and was there to start a new treatment also. Her last several treatments had failed and she now had disease in her liver. She was the sweetest woman. We talked about our disease, our families, our wigs. Routine girl talk.  I decided then that I wanted to take off all of the days I get treatment. By sitting at my desk working, I was afraid I would miss these special moments. I enjoyed my coversation with this woman and was looking forward to meeting the next person I would share my room with.
After chemo I went to the store and spent a peaceful afternoon at home writing. It's amazing all of the support I have had through this. CCK has been very supportive, but its a whole new level of support when you have your own t-shirt! Someone asked me why I went to my treatment alone today. I wasnt alone.  I had a whole office of people that love and care about me.

This is a patient of mine that was celebrating getting her last chemo. I had to stop in for a quick chit chat.

Dr. Schulz was not in the office today but wanted to show his support. He texted me this picture to let me know he was thinking about me.

This is the area I work in. There is Lisa, Jessica, Dr. Page, Vonnie, Angelica, Amanda, and Stephanie (who hopefully doesnt go into labor until I get back on Wednesday.)

This is Dr. Nabbout, Sara (front desk), Cheryl (business office), Jen (chart prep), and Elizabeth (research).

This is a view from my chair of Dr. Truong and Paula.