"Chemo Tuesday" Part 1

She did it! Sara made it through her first chemo session today and did fantastic! We're home now and will be calling it a night soon. It's been a long day.

We went to the Kellogg Cancer Center at Highland Park Hospital at 10 this morning and after short meetings/exams with the head nurse (Diane) and Dr. Merkel (the oncologist), we went down the hall to a private treatment room. Another nurse (Dena) then took over and began the long-feared infusions. Sara's port in her right arm was still sore so the insertion of the IV was uncomfortable, but everything that followed went smoothly. Over the course of about an hour and a half Sara received an anti-nausea drug, steroid, and two chemo drugs - one of which is affectionately referred to as "the red devil." That specific drug is the one that will beat the crap out of any frisky cancer cells that may have escaped the mastectomy and lymph node dissection a few weeks ago. It will also make her hair fall out in precisely 17 days, just before the Fourth of July weekend. (It's pretty amazing that they know the exact timing of that side effect!).

Sara's on a strict regime of anti-nausea drugs and steroids for the next three days which will hopefully keep her feeling ok. Supposedly, days 3-5 after the infusion are when the fatigue might set in. She's doing well so far so we'll see about that!

We've got a three-week break before the next infusion on July 6. Before then, Sara will see the OB's who will begin strict monitoring of the baby's growth and vital signs.

That's it for now. Have a good night, everybody.

Brian

P.S. the picture above is Sara at 26 weeks, about 10 days ago.

Upcoming Schedule

Hi everyone. We hope you've had a nice weekend. We started off ours back at Evanston Hospital for the placement of Sara's port. This device in her arm will allow easy and repeated access for blood draws, IV's and chemotherapy infusions. It was a little weird to be back at ambulatory surgery so soon after the mastectomy -- same waiting room, same nurses, etc. Regardless, the procedure was quick and relatively easy and we were home within 4 hours. Sara was sore that first day, but feels much better now, everything considered.

The chemo schedule has been set in place. The first infusion will be on Tuesday June 15 and the next three sessions will then follow in three-week intervals. The plan is for the last infusion (of this first phase) to be on August 17 and then the OB's will induce the delivery about 10 days later. All of this, of course, is subject to change, but right now there's no reason to think it will. (Sara will be 37 weeks pregnant at that time).

Once our baby arrives, Sara will then begin phase 2 of her chemotherapy which will take us out to approximately the end of November. Radiation will then begin after a short recovery period.

Yep, it IS a lot. However, we are just going to focus on what's directly in front of us rather than on the whole picture. It's all about taking it one small step at a time.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us out with meals. It was much more of a help than we could have imagined! (By the way, Sara has actually gained 3 pounds and Margo now asks for dessert after every meal . . . breakfast included!). We will begin posting some additional dates on the meal calendar to coincide with Sara's chemo treatments. We just need to get a sense of which days will be the most helpful.

Please keep Sara and the baby in your thoughts. When you have your next glass of wine (or something stronger) give a hearty toast to good health!

Brian