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.