Our Chemo Journey

Monday morning. My alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. I wake Brandon up, we get around and head to the oncologist office at 6:15 to make our 7:30 appointment. The entire way to the oncologist, I held Brandon’s hand and prayed about the day ahead of us, praying for God’s provision and protection over Brandon and for minimal to no side effects.

Initial paperwork. Weight and bloodwork. Exam room and vitals. The doctor comes in and talks about the chemo process and answers any questions we have. He then escorts us to the chemo room.

It’s a big open room, with a nurses station and probably 10 recliner chairs. Brandon got the nice comfy chair and I got a metal folding chair. I’m not complaining. Of course I wanted Brandon to be comfortable, all I had to do was sit there and be supportive - he was going to get terrible, toxic drugs pumped into his system.

The nurse comes over and greets us, introduces herself and states she will be back shortly with paperwork and education to review prior to treatment starting. Once she returned, she went over each medication Brandon was going to get, including 2 “pre-meds” that he would get before treatment started to help either boost the chemo (steroid) or decrease side-effects (mainly nausea).

Next, came the 4 treatment drugs Brandon was going to get. He was on a protocol called N-AVD. That included an immunotherapy (Nivolumab), and 3 chemotherapy drugs: Adriamycin, Vinblastine, and Dacarbazine. There was so much information, and papers. Reviewing side effects and things to keep an eye on, what to eat, ways to help sleep or appetite, activity, etc. It was information overload, but thankfully we had everything in a folder to review later if needed.

While she was reviewing the information, the pharmacy tech was preparing Brandon’s pre-meds. Once the meds were ready, the nurse brought over the first bag and said it would run for about 15 minutes. The second pre-med also ran for about 15 minutes.

Then the first of the chemo drugs was started: Adriamycin, aka “The Red Devil.” It’s so powerful and dangerous that the nurse had to wear a special gown, surgical mask and gloves (of course). She then had to sit next to Brandon while administering the syringe of bright red medicine over 15 minutes. Every so often she would “draw back” on the syringe to make sure there was blood return (blood in the syringe) to make sure the port was still working. This drug is so potent that if it gets outside the artery it will eat away anything it comes in contact with. How it doesn’t destroy the artery is still a mystery to me.

The next drug was a drip, meaning it hangs on the IV pole and is slowly infused via an electric pump. This drug was still pretty potent, where the nurse had to check for blood return and wear the special gown but nowhere near The Red Devil.

The final two drugs were drips that didn’t have to be monitored so closely by the nurse and they ran over 45-60 minutes.

Each trip to the oncologist lasted from about 7:30 am until around 2:30/3 p.m. Sometimes longer depending on how many people were there that day. Each drug has to be mixed that morning by the pharmacy tech, so sometimes we had to wait for the meds to be mixed before the nurse could administer the next one. One time, we had to wait on one of the meds to be brought over from the hospital or another clinic because the shipment that the oncologist ordered was late or didn’t arrive. That was an extra long day.

All of the staff at the office were so kind and friendly; and so helpful from insurance issues to accommodating scheduling needs. Cadence, Kim and another nurse (who for the life of me I cannot remember her name - I’m so sorry if you’re reading this.) were who we interacted with the most.

We got to meet some pretty amazing people throughout this journey and we went into it with the hope to share the love of Christ. My prayer was that the Lord would use us to bring at least one person to salvation or rekindle a relationship with Christ.

I honestly think we made the biggest impact on our families, showing how we trusted in the Lord and remained steadfast in our faith throughout the cancer journey.

Fast forward to December 2023, after 6 rounds (12 treatments total) of chemo that last 6 months, we get PET scan results that my love is cancer free! Praise the Lord! It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I want to pause and thank our amazing friends and family (you know who you are) that helped support us during this time. We truly couldn’t have made it through this journey without them, and we are so thankful that God placed each one of you in our lives. From providing meals, helping meal prep, letting our pups out while we were gone at chemo, helping with house work to prayer and encouragement, and everything in between, we are so blessed to have such an amazing support system.

Fast forward a few months, and Brandon talks to me about how God has shifted his priorities, and that leaving a legacy with a family is the most important thing to him. Now, the oncologist told us that we should wait 12 months after chemo was finished before trying to start a family (because there is limited to no research that shows what chemo does to a baby in utero and/or how long the drugs stay in your reproductive system). So we waited, and long story short; we found out we were pregnant in August 2024. We had all of the emotions: ecstatic, scared, in wonder and awe, worried, nervous. Most of all we just couldn’t believe it! Our miracle baby. God’s plans are always greater than anything we can conceive or imagine. It was unreal at first.

Now it’s 2025 and we have a beautiful, thriving, smiley, little girl.

“Looking at them, Jesus said, ‘With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.’” Mark 10:27 NASB

In Christ, Taylor