Chemotherapy: Round 3 -- Quick Update

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Mom's third round of chemotherapy. She had her third round of chemo on Monday, and is three-quarters of the way through the "bad" treatments. The good news is that the "bad" treatments are having fewer and fewer side-effects on her. She was a little tired on Tuesday and Wednesday after the treatment, however, by my estimation, took them a lot better than the first treatment. She has been up and around the house a lot more after this treatment. Her next treatment is scheduled for Monday, December 10th. This is the last of the bad ones.

We got another good piece of news when the doctor did Mom's physical exam this week. Two weeks before she had felt that the tumor was softening, but this time she said that it was definitely shrinking. She guessed that it had perhaps even shrunk by half.

The last piece of good news we got this week came from Dallas. Mom's sister, my Aunt Kathy, had surgery to treat her breast cancer on Wednesday. She was diagnosed three weeks to the hour after Mom's diagnosis came. She had a double lumpectomy and is resting comfortably at home. The doctor was very happy with how the procedure went and gave her a very good prognosis. In three weeks she will begin a series of radiation treatments. Our thoughts and prayers are with her too as she recovers. She is very happy to have this behind her and is eager to get up here to see Mom.

Chemotherapy: Round 2

Well, round two of chemotherapy has come and gone. The effects on Mom came earlier this time, but were much milder than the last round. We hope that the first round, although it was the same treatment, just shocked her body. Moving forward, we are hoping that the following treatments have as mild of consequences.

The great thing about this second treatment is the fact that we are half way through the worst part. The first four arms of the chemo are, by all accounts, the hardest. One of the drugs that they use is nicknamed "the red devil." If that's not something to be nervous about, I'm not quite sure what is.

The next two to four arms (the number for the last stage depends on her progress) are said to be much easier. At 4 1/2 hours they take a lot longer, but are said to have fewer after effects.

It was very nice that Mom was feeling better on her birthday. We were a little nervous, based on last time, that Wednesday would be her worst day. That couldn't have been further from the truth. The sun even came out for a while. Her day was truly brightened by all of the calls, cards, flowers and gift baskets which arrived throughout the day. To all her friends and family: you really know how to make someone's day! It was nice to see her smiling all day. I will post more when we have more news. Remember, no news is good news. Thank you for all of your support.

Chemotherapy: Round 1

Mom finished her first round of chemotherapy Monday October 29th. It made everything seem pretty real. Not that we expected a phone call letting us know that they had made a mistake, but to this point everything seemed pretty normal. We would walk the dogs a couple of time a day and even take a long bike ride. The treatment went pretty quickly. We were overloaded with information by the nurse, the American Cancer Society representative, and all of the chemotherapy procedures. The support network that is in place for cancer patients in unbelievable.

I bet some of you are wondering about the picture of the dogs. About an hour after the first treatment we took the dogs to Springdale Cemetary to run. We walked around for at least an hour, and the dogs had a blast. It may sound crazy, but the dogs are actually part of our support system as well. They are always excited to see you, and can always make a bad day seem a little bit better.

On Tuesday, Mom went with a friend to go see some of the museums in Chicago. An awfully long day for anyone, but she seemed just fine. It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary.

Wednesday was a bit of a different story. I spent part of the day grocery shopping for things that I thought my taste good to her (my homemade chili was not one of them.) I then set my sights on nearly all of the pump-top anti-bacterial soap and sanitizer that our local CVS had. Mom was just beat. She was completely worn out, and had to spend much of the day in bed because of fatigue and nausea. We are told that this is a fairly typical response to chemo, but obviously it can affect every person differently. This was pretty tough to watch, especially because I've always looked at her as somewhat invincible. She can outrun me, ride a bike further, and work out in the yard all day without showing any signs of fatigue. It was tough to see something knock her down like this, but we had to keep focused on the fact that it was all part or the path to getting better.

Thursday was a better day. Mom had a lot more energy and was up for longer periods of time. She still needed a lot of rest, but seemed more like herself for the better part of the day.

Today was a really good day. Mom has been up almost all day taking care of some bills and replying to some e-mail that she had not had the chance to get to in the past several days. She is starting to get her appetite back and is staying hydrated. Aside from the total assault on germs to prevent potential illness, everything is getting back to normal. She meets with the nurse practitioner on Monday the 5th, and then begins another round of chemo the following Monday the 12th of November.

Thank you again for all of your support via this website, cards, and phone calls. It is truly overwhelming to know there are that many people out there thinking about us.