We are now half way through the 1st round! Julie is doing amazing. For about 3 or 4 days after treatment Julie feels blah and lower energy, but luckly none of the less desirable side effects like nausea. Unfortunately she has lost her hair, which while expected, is still hard to accept. I think she still looks as beautiful as ever! I like to focus on the positives of losing hair, like "hey the Chemo is working" or "Lucky you, summer is coming and bikini or legs will look great (Chemo is indescriminant with where hair is lost)". It is also fun to come home from work and be surprised with redhead, brunette or blonde Julie!
We are also very fortunate to have access to Neulasta, which is a drug that stimulates white blood cell production by the bone marrow. Julies bloodwork was perfect after the first treatment due to the drug (and it is only one shot) and this rapid recovery should allow her to continue on her training for the Half Marathon in August.
All in all, spirits remain high and we remain positive.
Mike
Friday 20 April 2012
Wednesday 4 April 2012
1 down, 7 to go
First of 4 doses of Adriamycin (Doxorubicin) was administered today. Julies Oncologist changed the plan to now go every other week for 8 sessions. It is called a Dose Dense approach and based on the type of Cancer Julie has and her fitness level, the doctors thought this would be the best method. Bone scan came back clear.
Things have gone well. Day started at 9am meeting with Oncologist and going over the plan and bone scan results. We then moved to the Chemo treatment area where Julie first met our Chemo nurse (named Roy - great guy) who hooked up an iv and started a drip of saline and a steroid to help with nausea and loss of appetite. We then met with the pharmacy and went over the multitude of drugs that Julie has been prescribed mostly to deal with side effects (we have now become our own pharmacy). The chemo drug was administered and we were done by about 1pm. Tomorrow Julie will visit the nurse to have Nuelasta injected which mimics the function of bone marrow and will help with the production of white blood cells.
The expectation is now that for the next couple of days, Julie will feel kinda "blah" - but everyone responds differently. The consensus is that hair will start being lost between day 10 and 14, so we have ordered some wigs - Julie agreed that we should have some fun with this, some I got to pick one and the color - lets see if you recognize her...
I'll keep people updated on how Julie feels over the next couple of days - but so far so good and we remain positive!
Mike
Things have gone well. Day started at 9am meeting with Oncologist and going over the plan and bone scan results. We then moved to the Chemo treatment area where Julie first met our Chemo nurse (named Roy - great guy) who hooked up an iv and started a drip of saline and a steroid to help with nausea and loss of appetite. We then met with the pharmacy and went over the multitude of drugs that Julie has been prescribed mostly to deal with side effects (we have now become our own pharmacy). The chemo drug was administered and we were done by about 1pm. Tomorrow Julie will visit the nurse to have Nuelasta injected which mimics the function of bone marrow and will help with the production of white blood cells.
The expectation is now that for the next couple of days, Julie will feel kinda "blah" - but everyone responds differently. The consensus is that hair will start being lost between day 10 and 14, so we have ordered some wigs - Julie agreed that we should have some fun with this, some I got to pick one and the color - lets see if you recognize her...
I'll keep people updated on how Julie feels over the next couple of days - but so far so good and we remain positive!
Mike
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