Chemo.5

   I chose to title this post as  Chemo.5  since we are at the half way point in my wife's battle to overcome the cancer that has invaded her life. The treatments she has been receiving, are well underway, with all the expected side effects in place. Since the complete loss of her hair she actually seems to be adjusted to these "side effects. The first treatment seemed to be more of a mental  hurry up and wait program. She spent the majority of her time after the first treatment waiting to see what the effects would be. So far as expected she has had the hair loss, nausea, headaches and a lot of tiredness.

 

   I will say that so far she has yet to become so nauseated that she vomits. This was on of the things my wife has all but refused to accept, she swears she is going to go through the entire therapy and never vomit, and so far she has held on to that thought and has been successful in doing so. Because of this fact we have a running joke going around saying "Ma is a Gangster, not even Cancer can touch her!".

I do hope she can make it through the entire therapy just like she wants to. I think the little goals she set for herself like that tend to help her maintain a hold on what she has to do and what she needs to do in order to overcome this obstacle we call Cancer.

   There are 3 shots she must take after each treatment they are given to her (1) one a day for (3) three days. These Neupogen shots, seem to cause her more suffering than any of the other treatments involved, including the actual lumpectomy. The shots cause her severe bone pain and headaches. she has said that bone pain and nausea almost seems to trade out after the shots, then about  (5) days after the shots, pain gets a little better and the nausea tends to take back over.

Chemo begins.

First treatment in a series of 4(four) 4,30,2012 
In the visit prior to beginning her chemo therapy, we were introduced to the nurse that would be in charge of my wife's treatment throughout the entire series of treatments. I think that is a very important detail to keep the same person throughout. In all honesty this is one of the first things I have been really pleased to learn about. It seems a lot of the people providing these services really have no idea of any background or personal connection with their patients. That is not the case when your introduced into the Harbin Clinic Infusion Suites. Each case is designated one nurse, In our recent visit we were introduced my wife's case manager, "Sheri". I was very impressed with Sheri, she seems to have a lot more "REAL" experience with the patients than the doctors themselves do. One of the things I noticed most about her in relation to some of the other "professionals" we have met in this journey, is her ability to actually listen and at least try to answer the questions both my wife and myself have. I have in several instances asked questions of several of care givers we have encountered to only be given what I refer to as "pat" answers. I can say without any doubt, out of all of the others thus far involved in my wife's treatment, Sheri has never once given us a"pat" answer.

During this same visit we were told exactly what to expect from each following visit and how to prepare for them. Preparation for each visit is as important as the chemo itself. Each visit requires her to prepare by taking a powerful anti nausea medication twice a day one(1) day before, on the day of, and one(1) day after each treatment. Following each treatment she will receive one(1) shot per day for 3 to 5 days following the chemo, these shots help to increase her white blood count to aid in the healing process.

Each treatment begins with the first IV being another form of nausea medication, it takes around sixty(60) minutes for the first infusion to take place. Once the first infusion is completed then the first infusion of the actual chemo therapy medication can begin, this particular infusion takes only about thirty(30) minutes to complete. During this second infusion the nurse stays with my wife for the first (15) minutes to insure she has no ill reactions to the medication. We had been informed that around 12% of the people receiving this type of chemo therapy will have an adverse reaction that must be addressed immediately, requiring the nurses full attention be on her patient during this time. once this bag of medication is received she receivers the final infusion of the day it is the secondary part of the actual chemo therapy, this again takes around sixty(60) minutes to complete.

Upon our return home from the first treatment my wife seems to be in fair condition she, didn't really become nauseous until about 12 hours after her treatment. Thus far her side effects have been minimal, more so worry and and fear of the unknown has affected her the most.