Editor's Note: 7NEWS Meteorologist Pam Daale is grateful to all of the viewers who have expressed their best wishes as she wages her fight against breast cancer.

Daale has chosen to use TheDenverChannel.com as her way of keeping the public updated on her health. New journal entries will be posted weekly.

My third chemotherapy treatment happened this past Tuesday, Oct. 22.

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I have to admit that a couple of days ahead of time I was a little apprehensive. I know why -- because the chemo makes me not feel so good. But it was kind of silly really, because my discomfort is so minimal!

On the day of the treatment, I was fine, but the days preceding, I just didn't want to go. Thankfully, sanity prevailed because I know, too, that the treatment will get rid of the cancer that has the potential to kill me.

And once again, I feel that prayers have been answered in a BIG way! After my treatment I had a list of things I wanted to do, as long as I felt well enough. Well, I drove home and did them! I felt fine! I didn't even have trouble with the smell of food that evening and was able to eat, although not as much as I may have usually. But I thought it was a victory in itself just to be able to eat the night of my chemo!

Since I had so much trouble with gas the last two treatments, I went to a friend of mine who works at GNC. She recommended an essential enzyme product that I take at the beginning of meals. This too helped tremendously! I had some gas, but not the problem with pain and bloating in my stomach. Victory #2!

A silly side note to the chemo. I've been to the same place for the treatment each time, as well as extra times to have my blood tested, right?

Well, I got on the elevator, looked at the buttons, and couldn't remember which floor to get off on! I guessed four, but soon realized that wasn't right. I got back on the elevator thinking it had to be six, but the elevator went down instead. Thankfully, it opened to pick up my oncologist!

I laughed nervously saying the chemo must have killed some of my brain cells. He matter-of-factly replied that some cancer patients on chemo do experience some temporary memory loss. Hey, it's a much better excuse for forgetfulness than admitting that I'm aging!

After Tuesday's chemo, I finally ('bout time!) realized that I don't really want to be poked with needles any more. Before my chemo started I had great veins. I don't think anyone ever had to try twice to get my blood. If you remember with my second chemo, I didn't have anything to drink beforehand, which also makes veins harder to find.

This time they were able to find my veins, but I still had to get poked twice. One for the blood test, the other for the IV.

The IV was put in while I was wearing a hospital gown. Not wanting to get cold, I had them stop the IV so I could put on my own sweater. In that short amount of time, my blood clotted off, and the IV was no longer useable, and we had to start all over!

Chemo also has the tendency to shrink veins, and it did take a couple more tries to get a good vein again. That was enough! I asked my nurse what the procedure was to get a port implanted. We made an appointment for the next day!

What's a port? It's a little space capsule-looking thing that has a long flexible tube attached. It's placed just under the skin, either in the upper arm or upper chest (in my case it's the chest since I couldn't go without using my arm for a week!), and the tube is placed inside a strong vein (like the jugular).

Now, I haven't seen how it actually works, but from now on I'll be getting my chemo treatments through this port rather than a vein in my arm. And not only am I happy that I won't have to get poked any more, but I'm also happy for my nurse who really doesn't like hurting me! With five more treatments to go, it just makes more sense.

Port placement is actually a surgical procedure that has the usual requirements that you can't eat after a certain time, and you need someone to drive you home.

They use only a local anesthetic, so you're not totally out. But you're given sedatives to keep you relaxed, and therefore unable to drive. The actual surgery took about an hour, and a friend of mine drove me home as soon as I was dressed again. Voila!

I have yet to know whether or not I'm glad I had it done, but so many people are telling me I won't regret it. Maybe the fear of the poking pain was the real reason I was apprehensive about my last treatment. I guess I'll find out with my next one!

Until next time....

Pam Daale
The Happy Cancer Patient

You can e-mail Pam Daale at Pam_Daale@TheDenverChannel.com.