Chemo - Round One

[Bridgette, here]

Round one of chemo was done on Thursday at Penn. Tom, Mom and I sat in a room and mom was hooked up to the chemo for about an hour total. She felt okay afterwards and ran some errands with Tom.

The next day went alright as well. Tom said that she was a bit flushed in the face and was tired. It is important to keep her temperature in check. If it goes above 100.3 we need to contact a doctor.

Tom called me this morning to give an update. He said that she fell asleep yesterday at 3 pm and slept until 7. She woke up for some herbal tea and headed back to bed to sleep from 9 pm to 7 am. Again she woke up, had some tea and headed back to bed.

She commented that her head feels like cotton and that’s probably a good sign the tumor is being directly affected. The fact that she is sleeping is enormous. Most chemo patients don’t get a lot of sleep in the beginning because they are nauseated. Mom seems to have kept this side effect in check, which allows her body to heal while she is sleeping. So, good news.

Tomorrow Mom and Tom will head to Florida. They’ll take two days and stay at a nice bed and breakfast that I found in the North Carolina. I’ll fly down on Wednesday of next week to go to their appointment at UF-Gainesville where they will review her case in the Head and Neck Tumor Conference on Thursday. I’m scheduled to return on Friday but may stay the weekend if Mom needs me.

During the 7th to the 10th days after chemo, a patient’s white blood cell count plummets and it is very important to watch them closely for any of the hundreds of side effects that can occur. This coming weekend will be during those important days and Tom might want extra coverage.

Mom is in good spirits all in all. It’s important to keep her spirits up and her hope alive. She needs our prayers, our love and our strength to keep her strong and defiant. These next 6-9 weeks will be physically very difficult on her. The chemo treatment is aggressive and as you know very toxic. She needs to know that we are all here for her and will pull her through to the other side of this no matter what.

Don’t hesitate to call her. Tom said not to call on the home phone because she may be sleeping. Use mom’s cell phone number (610-659-2849). If she doesn’t feel like talking, she won’t pick up. But let her know that you are thinking of her. I’ll show her again how to get her text messages. Send her text messages of strength and tell her that she is in your prayers. She’s a firm believer in faith and prayer