I won’t bore you with all the details, but the port placement went off without a hitch (a huge thank you to my trusty sidekick, Alexis). The ECHO and chemo class both went well, and I was cleared to start treatment on December 22. It had snowed the night before so after Brian warmed up the car for a bit, we headed off into the unknown. (Wait, isn’t that a song from Frozen II? And now I’m singing it…)

We got to the hospital, shut off the car and headed into the clinic. There wasn’t any turning back now – not as if there had been before. I got my wristband, sat for a few minutes and then it was time to head back to my treatment room with my nurse. I got situated on my throne – fine, my very comfy recliner – and it was time for the adventure to begin.

If you don’t know how a port works, it’s a small device about the size of a quarter that’s implanted just under the collarbone and is used to carry chemo into the bloodstream. It keeps them from having to constantly stick me in the arms, which I am eternally grateful for. I put some numbing cream on it about 30 minutes before my appointment, which means that there’s no pain when they stick the needle in the port.

The nurse starts by taking my vitals and making sure there isn’t anything wonky going on. Then I get doses of Pepcid, Benadryl and long-acting anti-nausea medication through my port before my first infusion of steroids. No, I don’t turn into the Hulk (though that would be pretty badass) but it does help in case I start to have any kind of reaction to the chemo meds. After the steroids are done, there’s a 30-minute wait until the first drug is hung and the process really begins.

I started with a dose of Keytruda – the monoclonal antibody that’s been shown to be effective in people with TNBC, which I get every third cycle. Then we moved on to the Carbo and then the Taxol. With the Taxol, the nurse stays in the room with you for the first 15 minutes because if you’re going to have a reaction, that’s when it’s most likely to happen. No reactions for this girl!

Four hours and a nap for Brian later, round one was done. I didn’t feel any different than when I went in and really didn’t have any after effects, except for being pretty tired by Sunday evening – which also happened to be Christmas. Fortunately, my family’s Christmas is pretty chill and between birthday presents, lunch, Christmas gifts and playing with my niece, it was a relaxing day. Round one was over. Eleven more to go.