Fourth Chemo

Originally sent in an email on March 18, 2014:

Hi everyone

I head into chemo tomorrow, so I thought I'd give everyone an update on the past session.  Once again, it was definitely better this time around than the third session. My parents came down from Ottawa to help out over the chemo week. They are just so good with Isla - giving her arts and crafts to do, playing with her and building elaborate Duplo structures, and taking her on long walks outside.

We had a really good meeting with the oncologist and basically we did not change much from the previous session, other than to reduce the steroid I was taking. The steroid is used to help manage the pain and essentially produces a hormone similar to what is produced by your adrenal glands. We had a really good nurse, Heather, who administered the chemo at the clinic, and had everything working like clockwork, so we were home much faster than other weeks.

I had the same reaction to the chemo on Day 2, with very severe jaw and upper body pain that I managed for the most part with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. In terms of overall side effects, I have not suffered some of the more severe ones that other cancer patients have faced as yet. I still have my hair (well, what's left of my hair as a 47-year old!!), I still enjoy food and my taste buds have not been impacted, I have not experienced sores inside my mouth (thank Christine Doherty for that - spoonful of honey in the morning and evening) and while I have experienced some slight numbness at times in my toes and fingertips, it has not been severe and has actually been less noticeable after the fourth session. I am extremely averse to the cold however - my hands start stinging and going numb almost immediately if I go out in sub-freezing temperatures. I also can't drink anything cold, and especially any iced drinks as it almost burns my throat. And of course, I get tired very easily.

Karla hooked me up to an IV of saline on Day 3, and we also did it on Day 5, but I am finding that it really is unnecessary after Day 3 - I am getting very good at drinking 2 full litres of Smart Water each day, and the drip really just messes up that process. We will continue to do an IV on Day 3 going forward, though, as the chemo does seem to drain me more.

Was able to do more on Day 4 through Day 7 but experienced the same power drain when going off the steroid and was wiped out for much of Day 8.  We'll talk to the oncologist about that and see what we can do. I have been fighting a sore throat for much of the second week but I think it's pretty much due to the excessive dryness in our house.

I did go in for a CT scan on Friday (Day 9). They lay you flat on a table and pass you through this giant ring (I can see Bruce referring to it as a Stargate) several times.  You drink a special barium solution over several hours prior to the scan that helps with the computer "tomography" of the gastrointestinal tract (I think that means things show up clearer on the scan).  In any case, it proceeded without incident. Note that this is very different from an MRI (which I've also had) where you essentially are slid into this massive machine, and feelings of claustrophobia are very common.  We won't know the results until we see the oncologist at tomorrow's session. I may be slow in sharing the results, either way, as I think Karla and I will take the time to process whatever is discussed. I feel the chemo is working, so the hope is that we can continue full steam ahead if the results are positive.

Karla and Isla are both well. Baby G (as we refer to the wee one) is getting more and more active and is apparently the size of a pineapple now. Karla is having to dial back on things a bit, even though she wants to take on a lot.  The au pair starts in three weeks and we need to start preparing for the additional resident in the house. We also had a nice visit from my brother and his family last weekend - it is so amazing to see Isla and her cousins interact.

So, think good thoughts and all the best to everyone.

Andrew