I am calling this the "break week" since she was originally supposed to get her Cycle 3 treatment on the 1st, but it was delayed until the 8th for several reasons explained in other posts.
She is doing pretty good right now since she is off all of the Chemo drugs (has been for over a week now). The nausea is still there, but really just in the background and does not impact her eating or doing things. She still gets tired easily, but not as quickly as a couple weeks ago. I think this is partly be because she has been more active and is starting to build her strength back up a little. She is also still sensitive to touching something cold, but it has to be something very cold to cause any impact. Same with drinking something. In other words, it is almost gone, but can get triggered if she does the wrong thing. Unfortunately this will all likely get worse when she starts the next treatment, but with different drugs, so maybe not for all the side effects.
Taking advantage of this good period, we took a little trip down to Connecticut and Rhode Island area and did a little relaxing, shopping and we also went to a couple restaurants we have alway liked that are not available up here in Maine (Red Lobster and Outback). It was a nice break and it got her out of the house to do something different.
As far as what comes next, things may start to happen a little more quickly. On Monday (6th) we go in for an Iron infusion and training for the new drug regiment for cycle 3. We will get more details on what to expect with the new drugs and the pump instead of the pills although we already have some idea what to expect.
Wednesday we go in for the actual treatment which will likely take 4-6 hours including attaching the pump as the last step. Because of her reaction last time, we will probably hang around the hospital for an hour or so walking around just in case she has another reaction. Hopefully with the different drugs, she will not, but we would rather be safe.
We go back on Friday (46 hours after the pump is started) to have it removed. This should be a quick procedure, but we do have to go back to Farmington and being the third day, Barbara will likely be feeling her worst. The good part is that the third cycle will then be complete at least as far as taking drugs is concerned. The effects of the drugs will last much longer than three days, but at least the side effects should start going down soon after that.
It also sounds like the CT could happen as early as Monday the 20th which is slightly less than two weeks after the treatment. We also heard that the Surgeon is scheduling an Endoscopic Ultra Sound (EUS) as soon after the CT as they can. They want to get an updated and detailed re-staging to help determine what is next, whether surgery and exactly what surgery, more Chemo or something else. So things could start going fairly quickly (or not) after they get results. I doubt surgery will happen too quickly given all the variables that are involved. We'll just wait and see.
I will definitely do an update after the treatment on the 8th and may do one on the 6th especially if there is anything to report, but will probably not do anything other than those until that point. I will likely go back to daily updates after that.
Coleen and family will get her on the 13th or 14th for a few week visit. On the 18th, we go to Boston (or she will depending on how Barbara is feeling) to drop Chris off to fly home and to pick Ali up who is coming from Missouri. Ali will leave with Coleen and her girls when they head back to FL around the 7th of July. This will be a great distraction for both of us and we are really looking forward to it. Hopefully Barbara will be feeling pretty good for most of their visit.
Thanks for everyone's continued support. It has really meant a lot to both of us.
Wayne
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